Claryssa Potter and the Sorceror's Stone
by Parvati48
Summary: Harry's a girl named Claryssa in this story; Aunt Petunia is secretly nice while Uncle Vernon is abusive. Guess which Hogwarts staff member becomes her guardian? I have a clue it isn't Snape lol. WARNING:Rated M for abuse/rape themes. PLS give it a chance
1. Prologue, Ch 1 The Unexpected Arrival

Claryssa Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Summary: Harry's a girl named Claryssa in this story; Aunt Petunia is secretly nice while Uncle Vernon is abusive. Guess which Hogwarts staff member becomes her guardian?

Disclaimer: I own each of the 7 Harry Potter books and the idea for this story but J.K. Rowling owns everything so please don't sue me. I got the idea of a girl Harry from a Serena R. Snape who has written Arielle Potter: Book One and is working on Arielle Potter: Book two, they're good stories you should try reading them.

Prologue:

Petunia Dursley was a normal woman, she had a husband and a son, she had a normal home, a normal life and she also had a normal everyday routine. She would wake up at 5:30 every morning; she would take a shower until 5:45 and then get dressed. She would kiss her husband's cheek before going into her son's room and watch the sleeping toddler for a few minutes and then get the milk from outside at exactly 6:00. After she got the milk she'd put it in the fridge and then begin breakfast. After breakfast she'd kiss her husband's cheek on his way to work and then begin the endless struggle of taking care of her son Dudley. She would give him a bath, put on a clean diaper, put his clothes on, and then play with him and give into his every demand until her husband Vernon got home. They would have dinner and then relax in their living room for a couple of hours before beginning it all again.

She loved staying home with her son, he was her little angel and he looked almost exactly like his dad. Vernon Dursley was a big beefy man with barely any neck, with brown hair and eyes. He had a mustache to match his hair and he always wore business suits even on the weekends. Petunia was the complete opposite she was tall and skinny with too much neck and buckteeth. She had blonde hair and blue eyes and always wore dresses, mostly in pastel colors. Dudley was big and fat with no neck like his father with his mom's blue eyes and blonde hair. The Dursleys were a normal family that hated anything that was abnormal to their standards, you would never think something strange would happen to them, and neither did they for that matter but how wrong they were.

Chapter 1: The Unexpected Arrival

On November 1, 1981 Petunia began her routine, she awoke at 5:30, finished her shower at 5:45, kissed her husband, watched her son for a few minutes, walked slowly down the stairs and watched the clock in the hallway strike 6:00 and opened the front door to get the milk but was shocked when she saw a bundle of blankets with a baby girl inside them on her front porch with the milk next to it. She grabbed the girl in one arm and the milk in the other and silently shut the door with her foot. She put the milk in the on the counter and brought the little girl into her living room and laid her down on the couch and sat next to her. She the opened and read the letter left with the little girl.

It was from a man by the name of Albus Dumbledore and he was from her sister's world. He told her that a couple of months after the baby girl was born Lily and James Potter had to go into hiding. An extremely dangerous wizard named Lord Voldemort was looking for them to kill the baby since some of his followers had heard part of a prophecy pertaining to her. The reason the baby was left with the Dursleys now was because Voldemort had found them and killed James and Lily since she was trying to protect the baby but when the he tried to kill her he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. Dumbledore also said that she needed to be kept in the Dursley household until she was of age to ensure her protection through a bond.

She was to be given the letter or told of it before she turned 11 and then she would go to Hogwarts like her parents. Dumbledore's last words in the letter were: "Please take care of her for she is very important to our world." which meant the wizarding world of course. Petunia looked at the girl with a sort of sad look on her face, that girl was all that was left of her freakish sister except for memories. Petunia had always wanted a daughter but after complications giving birth to Dudley she was told she wasn't allowed to have any more children. So she agreed to take care of the baby girl, who was only a few months younger than her Duddykins.

They were both a year old and she knew the unexpected arrival wouldn't bode well with Vernon or Dudley. She couldn't help wanting to keep the girl though especially when she opened her eyes to reveal beautiful emerald green eyes like her sister. She had never liked her sister but for some reason wanted to preserve her memory. So Petunia smiled at the now awake baby girl and whispered to her, "Claryssa Lily Potter, welcome to the Dursley family." This earned her an adorable grin from the toddler in her arms, capturing her heart at once.


	2. Ch 2 The Dream and the Zoo

A/N: _This is what it looks like when she is thinking something_

Chapter 2: The Dream and the Zoo

Claryssa was a happy baby she had a loving father and mother, and two loving uncles. On October 31, 1981 her uncles went out for a couple of hours and her mother and father stayed home to play with her. During their play fest, before bed, a hooded figure walked into their front door and all of a sudden her mother grabbed her and her father welled, "It'd him, take Claryssa and run!" While her mother was shutting her bedroom door at the top of the stairs there was a flash of a green light from the living room and her father was no more. Her mother was putting her in her crib when a bright yellow light blasted open the door. Her mother turned around to face the man bravely and begged the man to not kill her baby girl. In a cold voice the man said "Your baby girl is who I came for, you do not need to die, just step out of the way." "No! I'll never let you get her, you'd have to kill me first." yelled Lily forcefully. "Alright if you insist," he laughed before yelling, "AVADA KEDAVRA!" A green light flashed, her mother screamed, and her mother was no more.

The man pointed his wand at Claryssa who took it, put it in her mouth, and began to chew on it. "You disgusting creature, take my wand out of your mouth!" he yelled yanking it out of her mouth making Claryssa giggle. He glared at her making her giggle more, which made him scowl and she continued to giggle at him. Finally he growled and she began giggling more doing nothing but pissing him off until he yelled out "AVADA KEDAVRA!" The spell hit her forehead and then bounced back and hit him where his heart would've been if he had one. He turned into sparkly green dust making Claryssa clap, she thought it was all for her entertainment until her forehead began to hurt. The sparkly green dust turned into black smoke and she watched it drift up to her eye level. The black smoke turned into a head that said, "I'll get you Claryssa Potter!" before it flew out her bedroom door and out the front door.

Privet Drive was in total darkness except for the street lights, it was 3 AM. A very tall and thin man with silver hair and beard that was long enough to tuck into his belt appeared at the end of the street. He pulled out what looked like a lighter out of his pocket; he was wearing a long robe like thing that was purple with silver stars. He flicked the "lighter" and the nearest streetlight went out, he flicked it over and over until all the street lights were out on Privet Drive. The old man walked up to Number 4 Privet Drive and sat down on the garden wall next to a tabby cat with square markings around its eyes.

"It's a pleasure seeing you here Prof. McGonagall," said the old man with a twinkle in his blue eyes to the cat. The cat then turned into a strict looking woman with her black hair pulled into a bun. "Good evening Prof. Dumbledore." said the woman. "Would you like a Sour Patch Kid?" asked Prof. Dumbledore. "A what?" she asked back, "A sour patch kid, they're a type of muggle candy I'm rather fond of, they start out sour but end up sweet, and they are chewy' he replied with a smile.

"Oh no thank you Albus." She said before she took a deep breath, "Are the rumors true?" she asked in a rather worried voice. "About what my dear Minerva?" he asked while picking out a sour patch kid, she watched him pull out the little child shaped sugary candy and pluck it in his mouth before she added with more worry tinted in her voice, "About the Potters?" He finished chewing before replying sadly, "Unfortunately they are true, Lily and James are dead from the hands of Voldemort," "What about their little girl?" asked Prof. McGonagall. "Hagrid is bringing her on Sirius' flying motorcycle." He replied. "You trust Hagrid with something as important as this?" she asked. "My dear professor, I would trust Hagrid with my life." He answered before grabbing another sour patch kid and putting it in his mouth.

All of a sudden a roar was heard, it was the roar of a motorcycle engine to be exact. They looked up in time to see a giant flying motorcycle land and astride said motorcycle was a half-giant by the name of Hagrid. Hagrid was carrying a bundle of blankets with a baby girl in them. "Good evenin' Prof. Dumbledore, Prof. McGonagall, she fell asleep right as we was flyin' over Bristol." Hagrid informed them. "She is alright though?" Dumbledore asked, "Yes sir, jus' be careful so yeh don' wake her." He said as he passed her to McGonagall, she smiled down at the sleeping little girl and added to Dumbledore, "Please don't leave her here, and they are the worst sort of muggle imaginable!"

"They are the only family she has left, she must stay here to remain safe," he said. "Well why don't we keep her at Hogwarts, she'll be safe there?" McGonagall protested. "We cannot have her there, she will be safer here." Dumbledore said taking the bundle from McGonagall. He put her on the doorstep and placed a letter on top of the bundle. At that point Hagrid got rather teary and started sniffing, "There, there Hagrid, it's not forever." Dumbledore said reassuringly and Hagrid nodded. "We must be going before it's too late." McGonagall said and the others agreed. Dumbledore looked again at the sleeping toddler over his half moon spectacles and said, "Good luck Claryssa Potter."

Hagrid got back on the motorcycle and flew off, Prof. McGonagall turned back into a cat and started walking down the street opposite of where Dumbledore had first come from, and Dumbledore walked back the way he had come. When he was at the end of the street, he pulled out the "lighter" again and flicked it once and all light returned to Privet Drive. He saw the tabby turn the corner at the opposite side of the street and then he spun around and disappeared with a swish of his cloak.

Claryssa Potter woke up thinking of how weird her dream had been; she yawned and put her bathrobe on. She got up and walked to the downstairs bathroom. It was pretty much her bathroom seeing as she was the only one who actually used it. She stripped off her bathrobe and night gown after she shut the door; she got in the shower and took her usual 10-15 minute shower. She used her towel to dry off and wrapped it around her wet head and put her bathrobe back on. She grabbed her underwear and put them in the hamper and then grabbed her night gown and walked back to her cupboard under the stairs.

She put on clean clothes, finished drying her hair, and then stepped out of her cupboard right as her aunt walked down the stairs. They both walked to her bathroom where her aunt would brush and style her hair everyday. Today her aunt brushed her long black hair and again mentioned how it ended right before her butt. They both loved that fact about her hair. Since today was her cousin Dudley's birthday she wore a green dress, green was his favorite color, and her aunt wanted her to wear the dress. Her aunt put her hair up in pigtails with matching green hair ties. When her hair was up in a pony tail or in pigtails her hair seemed curlier but when it was down it looked wavier and she never knew why. She had a theory about it being her dad's genes since his was untidy no matter what, as was hers. She looked just like her dad except for her eyes, they were emerald green just like her mother's had been.

Claryssa couldn't remember her parents, the only remembrance she had was a thin lightning bolt shaped scar on her forehead and a picture her aunt had given to her of them secretly. After her hair was done they went into the kitchen and made breakfast for the family. –Start excerpt: Aunt Petunia was secretly nice to her when Dudley and her Uncle Vernon weren't around but when she was around the other two she would be mean to Claryssa just as they were. Her aunt would take her shopping at cheap stores by demand of her uncle but she always managed to find at least a few cute outfits or dresses when she went so she could deal even though her clothes weren't always in the best of shape.

Claryssa was actually pretty smart, she was even smarter than Dudley when she had the chance to prove it, which wasn't very often. She liked to read but she only had one book and that was Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, it was her favorite book though so she was happy. She had gotten the book because one of Uncle Vernon's older female relatives had sent it to Dudley a few years after Claryssa had come because she had forgotten Dudley was a boy. SO instead of throwing it away, Aunt Petunia saved it and put it in Claryssa's cupboard next to her when she was sleeping on the morning of her 8th birthday. Claryssa never knew where it had come from so she hid it from everyone including her aunt so she could keep it. Claryssa loved the thought of talking animals which wasn't normal which was another reason to hide it from her family, they hated anything that wasn't normal. –End excerpt.

Right as the walked into make breakfast she noticed the giant pile of presents on the table, which made Claryssa roll her eyes. When they finished making breakfast Uncle Vernon and Dudley walked into the kitchen. They ate their breakfast and then Claryssa cleared the plates while Dudley started eyeing his presents. "How many are there?" asked Dudley "36 counted them myself." Uncle Vernon replied with a smile. "36? Last year I had 37!" Dudley yelled unhappily. _Oh no the world is going to end, you got one less than you did before _Claryssa thought while rolling her eyes. "Well some of them are quite a bit bigger than last year." Uncle Vernon said, "I don't care how big they are!" Dudley yelled "Ok then when we go to the zoo we'll buy you two more presents how does that sound Duddykins?" Aunt Petunia pleaded.

"Then I'll have how many?" Dudley asked. "You'll have 38 Dudley." replied Claryssa which earned her glares from both her aunt and uncle. Dudley then agreed that that would be ok and Uncle Vernon chuckled and said, "That's my boy, getting his money's worth." Again Claryssa rolled her eyes and then the phone rang. Aunt Petunia went to get it as Dudley started opening his presents, starting with the big ones and ending with the small ones.

When her aunt came back Dudley had just opened his last and smallest present which was a new digital wristwatch which he instantly put on his fat left wrist. "Bad news Vernon, Mrs. Figg broke her leg and she can't take the girl," Aunt Petunia said. "What are we going to do?" asked Uncle Vernon. "We'll have to take her with us to the zoo," she replied with a quick smile to Claryssa. Claryssa's heart soared at this; she never got to go anywhere but school, Mrs. Figg's cabbage smelling living room, or the store with her aunt. Dudley instantly began his fake tear and his saying, "I d-don't w-w-want h-her t-t-to go s-she r-ruins e-e-everything!" Just then the doorbell rang and Aunt Petunia said, "That'll be Piers and Mrs. Polkiss. Go let them in Dudley." The fake tears stopped and Dudley ran to go get the door, a minute later he walked back into the kitchen with his best friends Piers Polkiss and his mother.

About an hour later Claryssa was in the back seat of her uncle's car next to Piers and Dudley on her way to the zoo for the first time. Before getting into the car her uncle took her aside and said, "Any funny business, any at all and you will seriously regret it, get in." For the first time she wasn't made to stay at Mrs. Figgs' house and boy was she happy. It's not like she didn't like Mrs. Figg, it was just that every time she went over there she had to stay in the cabbage smelling living room and look at pictures of every cat Mrs. Figg had ever owned. When they were on the highway driving Uncle Vernon was complaining about something as usual. Claryssa, the council, Claryssa, the bank, and Claryssa were just a few of his favorite subjects to complain about.

This morning it was motorcycles and how they always roared through the middle of cars. This complaining made Claryssa remember about her dream, the only things she remembered about it now was a flash of green light, a woman screaming, which was her mother's, and a flying motorcycle. Though before she could stop herself she blurted out, "I had a dream abut a motorcycle last night, it was flying." Uncle Vernon slammed on his breaks and bellowed, "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!" causing Dudley and Piers to laugh at her. She just replied with "I know they don't but it was just a dream," and then she went quiet for the rest of the way to the zoo. At the front of the zoo, Uncle Vernon bought both Dudley and Piers a large chocolate ice cream and bought a lemon pop for Claryssa since the lady asked what she wanted before he could get her away from the booth. _It's not that bad _Claryssa thought to herself; actually she rather enjoyed it since she didn't get sweets very often. They walked around and saw the big cats and the monkeys before lunch, there was a fat gorilla standing still looking dumb and drooling and scratching his butt and Claryssa giggled to herself _that looks like Dudley on a good day._

After lunch they went to the Reptile House, Dudley and Piers easily found the largest snake in the place. They were tapping on the glass trying to wake it for a minute before they moved on. Claryssa then walked up to it and said, "Sorry about him, he doesn't understand what it's like laying here day after day watching people press their ugly faces in on you." The snake raised its head and shook it and gave her a look to say "I get that all the time." Claryssa looked at the sign next to it and read **Brazilian Boa Constrictor, Bred in Captivity. **"I never knew my parents either, do you get lonely here?" she said and it shook its head yes. "I can imagine, do you talk to people often?" she asked and it shook its head no. "It must be boring living here" she mentioned and it shook its head yes. The next second she was thrown to the floor by her cousin Dudley and landed hard on her arm. She glared up at him in time to see her cousin fall through the glass that seemed to have disappeared.

He fell in the snake's water and then the snake uncoiled itself onto the floor in front of her and realized the Boa could've wrapped itself Uncle Vernon's car twice and crushed it. The Boa looked at her saying, "Thankssss Amiga!" "Anytime" she replied shocked and then the Boa slithered off saying, "Brazil here I come!" When the rest of the party realized Dudley's predicament the snake was slithering off and the glass had reappeared. Aunt Petunia was screaming and everyone was confused. After getting Dudley out of the cage he was wrapped up in a blanket and everyone was drinking tea to calm their nerves, complimentary of the zoo owner, it was a sweet berry tea that Claryssa seemed to actually enjoy, she didn't like much tea. She was allowed to take some home in the zoo owner's very own cup, he had told her it was a special cup and winked at her as if he knew her some how. She found this very confusing seeing as she knew she had never met the man until today but she found her smiling at the recognition gleaming in the man's eyes but the feeling faded soon because she was nervous the whole trip home.

When they had gotten home Piers mentioned that Claryssa was talking to the snake and then left when his mom got there. Uncle Vernon turned on Claryssa so quickly that she fell backwards out of fright. Her aunt was getting a warm bath ready for Dudley upstairs and he was up there with her. Her uncle looked at her evilly, "I thought I told you no funny business Claryssa." He said. "I told you once and I'll tell you again, I don't know what happened. One minute the glass was there and the next it was gone, it was like magic." Claryssa replied. "There's no such thing as magic!" he yelled as he punched her in the stomach taking Claryssa by surprise, no one but Dudley had hit her before. Uncle Vernon chuckled menacingly at her shocked face and started punching her and kicking her, when she could barely move he picked her up and threw her into her cupboard; luckily she landed on her bed so it didn't hurt as bad, "I told you, you would seriously regret it." Her uncle said before shutting and locking her cupboard.

That day began her own personal hell, every time something weird happened or if she did something wrong, or even if he was in a bad mood, her uncle would abuse her and send her to her cupboard with no food, she soon became a skinnier, more bruised Claryssa and her aunt was none the wiser for she wasn't allowed to tell her or else her beatings would get worse and they were already more than she could bare most of the time. Every night she dreamed of someone coming and taking her away from her uncle but she knew she couldn't leave her aunt alone with him in case he turned on her and she didn't want to be the reason for her aunt's pain so she stayed and endured the suffering for the safety and sake of her aunt.


	3. Ch 3 The Beatings Worsen & a New Friend

Chapter 3: The Beatings Worsen and a New Friend

It had been a week since Uncle Vernon began abusing her, she could already see how much skinnier she was seeing as she hadn't eaten since the day at the zoo. She only had that tea which she had let herself only take a sip everyday, luckily it was a very large cup and oddly the cup it was in made it stay warm at all times and she found this odd. Last night her aunt had asked her why she looked so thin and worse for wear, when Uncle Vernon wasn't around, and Claryssa wanted nothing more than to tell her the truth but she knew she shouldn't so she just said she had been feeling sick for the last week. Which wasn't a lie, every night before he locked her up she'd go to the bathroom and puke but nothing but a little bit of purple liquid, the tea, and stomach acid would come out and then she'd go to her cupboard and cry herself to sleep.

When Claryssa woke up she went to go take her shower, she looked in the mirror and saw her pale naked skin covered in black and blue markings. Some were of his fingers where he held her down to keep her from struggling as much, others she could see the shape of his fist. And the one on her stomach was of his foot mark, where two days ago he kicked her for showing how much smarter than Dudley was. "It isn't hard to be smarter than Dudley, he has a brain the size of a peanut and he looks like a baboon's backside." She had told her uncle and he began to beat her this time stomping on her stomach again and again, until she began coughing trying to breathe. She wouldn't have been surprised if she had asthma after this was all done and over with, _if it ever ended _she thought to herself before sighing and turning on the water.

After her shower she went and got dressed in a light blue short sleeved blouse and a matching blue skirt that swirled around her when she span, she loved this skirt and it always made her feel pretty like a princess. She came out to meet up with her aunt and they walked in the bathroom to do her hair, her aunt brushed through her silky, unruly hair and then began taking the top half of her hair and brushing it into a ponytail. When her aunt was done, she was surprised at how grown up it made her look to have half her hair up and half down she grabbed her favorite hair burette in the shape of a lily and clipped it over the ponytail part. She followed her aunt to the kitchen and helped with breakfast: pancakes, maple sausage, and bacon with orange juice, this was Claryssa's favorite meal and she began torturing herself about how good she remembered it taste since she knew she wouldn't get any thanks to her uncle.

Dudley and Uncle Vernon walked downstairs and sat themselves at the table and Claryssa served them their meal and then sat down in her rightful chair to watch them stuff their fat faces. Aunt Petunia put a pancake, a piece of maple sausage, and a piece of bacon on her plate and Claryssa looked up in shock. Her aunt wasn't supposed to be nice to her in front of them and she noticed her uncle about to protest. "Vernon look at the girl, if she gets too skinny then the neighbors will think we are abusing her and we aren't and they'll spread rumors about us and I will not stand to have them say anything about this family!" Aunt Petunia said to him to cover up the fact that she wanted Claryssa to eat before she got really ill.

Claryssa smiled to herself and then poured syrup on her pancake; she loved when it overflowed with syrup because she loved the flavor of maple. She wolfed down her pancake and was surprised further when her aunt out another one on her plate again to a glare by Uncle Vernon. She dipped both her bacon and her maple sausage in the syrup and savored the flavor until she ate her second pancake in the remaining syrup but she stopped herself from licking the plate clean though she was still hungry. She drank a glass of orange juice and noticed her aunt had made it with no pulp, just the way she liked it, Claryssa smiled to herself about her aunt doing this all for her before pouring herself another glass and gulping it down.

She helped her aunt clean up the dishes while Uncle Vernon went into the living room to watch TV and Dudley went to go play over at Piers' house. "Thank you Aunt Petunia" Claryssa whispered to her aunt and her aunt just nodded with a smile. After dishes she went out to the garden and began helping her aunt prune the roses, lilies, and other flowers. Her aunt had a green thumb and it seemed somehow Claryssa had inherited it because together their garden, which is what they called it when Vernon wasn't around, had flourished and was prettier than anybody else's on Privet Drive. The roses this year seemed to be blooming more beautifully than ever before, her aunt grabbed one, snipped off the thorns, and placed it behind Claryssa's ear and Claryssa did feel like a princess for those moments with her aunt.

Lunch was a simple affair, they had sandwiches and Claryssa made herself a ham, bologna, and cheese sandwich with mayonnaise and sat down quietly to eat. She had table manners that she had learned by watching her aunt, who was really into the prim and properness, so she dabbed her mouth when mayonnaise got there and she noticed the creepy way her uncle was watching her while wolfing down his roast beef sandwich greedily. _He's disgusting and Dudley is just the same_ she thought after thinking how both her uncle and cousin scarf down their food like pigs. The only reason she had done that this morning was because she hadn't eaten in a week.

The rest of her afternoon was spent grocery shopping with her aunt, they had bought steak, corn on the cob, and potatoes for dinner and then a bunch of things they needed since for the house it just disappeared like a snap of a finger. Aunt Petunia bought a box of candies for both Claryssa and Dudley as well and when they got home Claryssa ran and hid hers by her bed in her cupboard so no one could find it and then went and helped her aunt put everything away. "Go give Dudley his candy" Aunt Petunia said roughly as she heard Uncle Vernon walk in and Claryssa grabbed it and went to go find her cousin.

"Here Dudley, your mom bought you candy" she told him as she found him in front of his new computer her got for his birthday. "Sweet! Did she get you anything?" he asked with a sneer, and she said "No, she never does but I guess I should be thankful otherwise I might look like a pig with hair like you." Claryssa laughed and then ran out of the room before Dudley could figure out what she had just said. She helped with dinner and they sat down to eat it, Claryssa eating her share and a biscuit which her aunt decided to make on a whim. Claryssa enjoyed today a lot but she knew when good things happened to her they were usually too good to be true and how right she was.

At bedtime she was getting dressed in her nightgown and she took a sip of her tea to calm her stomach, the huge intake of food from today was starting to get to her and she instantly was relaxed. She was about to grab her book from its hiding place when her uncle opened the door, "Guess what time it is?" he asked her with a menacing voice and Claryssa paled, "I haven't done anything wrong though," Claryssa said sacredly, "Oh but you have, that outfit of yours today and the looking all like a princess during meals, it seemed to have tickled my fancy." He told her smiling evilly and Claryssa was confused, she didn't know what he was talking about but she soon found out.

Her uncle grabbed her by her arm and dragged her up the stairs into Dudley's second bedroom; this is where all of Dudley's broken toys went to or where he put the toys he didn't want anymore. There in the middle of the floor was the spare mattress from Dudley's old bed before his parents had bought him a full size. It was a twin sized mattress and Uncle Vernon threw her on it and she laid there shocked, not understanding what was happening. He got down on the mattress and put a hand on her to keep her there, which was unnecessary because she was frozen in fear. He ripped off his belt and pulled down his pants, with great difficulty from his large bottom and ripped off her panties.

He used both hands now to hold her down by her arms but she couldn't move as it finally clicked in her mind what was going on. She tried to move but it was too late he had her, just where he wanted her. She started to cry silently and this seemed to arouse him because at the moment he thrust himself into her and she felt herself tear from the inside. She yelled out but silenced herself as she noticed that it aroused him more, he was enjoying and getting aroused from her pain. She clamed her mouth shut, with great difficulty as her uncle penetrated her innocence again and again, the pain increasing each time.

"How do you like this you slut?" he asked her and he heard her whisper painfully, "I don't, please leave me alone." But he just laughed and thrust harder until she clamed her mouth shut again. "I thought you wanted to look like a big girl? You did look just so mouth watering in that outfit; you looked like a big girl, now you'll be treated like one." He said and then laughed evilly again. She couldn't say anything because she knew she'd cry again and didn't want to give him the satisfaction. "You're good at this for not having done it before, I'm almost done your tightness does help." He said and she gagged in her throat, this wasn't how she wanted to lose her virginity, she wanted it to be after she was married to her dream guy.

Her uncle began thrusting harder and breathing heavily until she felt his seed explode inside of her, she tried to move but he was holding her down still. "Good job girly, I'll see you tomorrow morning" he said and he got up, put his pants back on, and left her there crying. She sat up stiffly and saw blood leaking from in between her legs; she put her underwear back on and began walking slowly downstairs. When she got to her cupboard she collapsed on her bed and sobs began etching her body until she was empty, where she drifted slowly into a fitful sleep.

When she woke up she was disfigured, and her brain was hazy, she shook her head to clear her vision but that made her head pound so she sat still and waited for her vision to clear. She got up to go take her shower and felt pain etched in between her legs as she remembered last night, and ran to the bathroom to puke. When she looked in the mirror she could see the new bruises of his fingers where he held her down. She stripped off her night gown and saw dried blood in between her thighs and on her underwear. She jumped in the shower and tried to wash off her impurity, but she could still feel it all so she sat on the bottom of the shower and cried, allowing the water to rain down on her. When her tears had stopped she got up, dried off quickly, and ran to her cupboard to get dressed and she ran into her aunt on the way. "You're late today Claryssa" her aunt said and she just nodded and walked past her confused aunt to get dressed. She put on a maroon and black shirt that had three-quarters of a sleeve instead of the full long sleeve and some old black jeans of hers with holes at the knees. She ran to the bathroom and her aunt hurriedly put her hair in a messy pony tail, Claryssa pulled her bangs out of the ponytail and brushed her fingers through them until the fanned out across her forehead, covering her scar.

She helped with breakfast and thanked her lucky stars it was Monday, her uncle would be going to work so she was free from looking at him for a large amount of hours. After he left Claryssa said, "Hey Aunt Petunia, I'm going out to the park to get out of the house," "Alright but be back at 5:00 so that we can start making dinner for the boys." "Yes Aunt Petunia," she said and then bounced out the door to her freedom. She got to the park and took Black Beauty out of her bag and began reading on a swing. Her bag was a purse/backpack that she slipped over her head and it sat at her hip, it was her favorite color purple, and had a beautiful picture of three lily flowers intertwined at the emerald green stems. Her aunt had ordered this bag specifically for her since she knew it would be significant to Claryssa, and it was Claryssa loved lily flowers because her mother was named after them, her middle name was Lily and they happened to be able to grow in her aunt and her garden.

The emerald green stems were cool to her because they were the color of both hers and her mother's eyes. This bag was special to her and she brought it with her almost everywhere she went. While she was reading she noticed a family walking by, a little girl kept clinging to her father's leg as he tried to walk, "Arena you know better than to do that while I'm walking," he told her and she just looked up and smiled. He picked her up and threw her into the air and she began to giggle, when he caught her she wrapped her arms around his neck and said, "I love you daddy." He hugged her back and said, "I love you too" This made Claryssa wish her parents were alive again, she missed them dearly and found herself wishing that they had never died so she wouldn't have come here. She hated it here despite the fact that her aunt was kind; it had become a hell to her in the time she was there particularly lately.

She went back to reading her book as the family left so she could try to forget her train of thought. She was just reading the part in the book where Ruben was riding Black Beauty drunk and Black Beauty's shoe was about to fall off when she felt someone staring at her. She looked up to see a boy staring at her curiously; she stared back and took in his features. He was taller than she was; he had sandy brown hair, and grey eyes that penetrated her soul. She saw intellect reflecting in his eyes and she knew he had to be a few years her senior. He stared at her with interest making her a bit uneasy and it made it worse when he walked up to her and sat in the swing next to her.

"My name's Cedric Diggory, what's yours?" he asked, "Oh uh Claryssa Potter, how do you do?" she replied and he nodded as is his suspicions were confirmed. "I'm fine thank you and yourself?" he asked politely, "I'm alright I guess just trying to relax outside instead of being stuck inside all day." She told him. "Do you live around here?" he asked, "Yes I live over at Number 4 Privet Drive, what about you?" she asked politely. "I live over at Number 4 Magnolia Crescent." He replied. "That's funny; you live a street over from me next to my babysitter Mrs. Figg, she lives at Number 5 Magnolia Crescent." Claryssa blurted out. "Yes we have Mrs. Figg over for dinner once a month." He told her. "Well does she always talk about every cat she's ever owned?" Claryssa asked and he laughed, "No she doesn't only sometimes if she somehow gets onto the subject." "I wish that was the case when she baby-sits me, that's all she ever talks about, I suppose she's a bit nutty." She laughed, "Maybe just a little bit," he said and they laughed together.

"So what are you reading?" he asked changing the subject, "Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, it's my favorite book but it's also the only book I have." She said, "Yes I read that when I was your age too, it's a good book." He said. "How old are you if you don't mind me asking?" she asked. "I'm 13 about to turn 14," he replied politely, "I'm 10 about to turn 11," she told him and he nodded. "So where do you go to school?" he asked, "Oh I'm about to go to Stonewall High in the fall, unfortunately they wear nothing but grey there and I wish there was some kind of color to flare it up but alas no, they need to keep it uniform." She told him with a sigh. "I go to a uniform school as well, it's pretty far away and we need to take a train to get there but it's a wonderful school," he told her.

"That sounds nice, I wish I could go to a boarding school to get away from here." She said. Though he already knew her story he knew she didn't know her own so he said, "Do your parents treat you badly or something?" "My parents died when I was one, I live with my mother's sister and her family." She answered with a grimace. "What's wrong with living with them?" he asked curiously. "My fat arse of an uncle treats me disrespectfully as does their stupid spoiled pig of a son but my aunt's ok, she treats me well when they aren't around but is mean to me when they are around to satisfy her husband." She told him and then covered her mouth as she realized she let too much slip out.

"I see why you'd want to be out of the house then." He told her with an encouraging smile. "Yeah you have no idea, how I'd love to be taken away sometimes, it gets a little unbearable to live there." She told him with another sigh. "I understand, so what do you like to do?" he asked yet again changing the subject seeing as it was making her uncomfortable, though he didn't know why. "I like to read and work in my aunt's garden; it's beautiful during the summers, you can come see it sometime if you want." She told him. "We have a large library and a type of gardening class at my school, I think you'd enjoy it there." He told her and she nodded with a smile.

"You're easy to talk to because you have a calming presence," she told him before blushing slightly at her own comment. "Thank you, you're easy to talk to as well" he told her with a smile. His smile sent her heart a flutter and she turned away blushing again. "What time is it?" she asked him, "It is 5 minutes to 5," he informed her after looking at his watch. "Oh jeez, I have to go help my aunt make dinner, sorry to cut this short." She told him and then stuffed her book in her bag and took off running, he waved after her until she disappeared over the hill and then he walked slowly back to his house with a grin on his face.

Claryssa burst through the front door and put her bag back in her cupboard before running to the kitchen. "You're in high spirits today," her aunt commented when seeing the smile on Claryssa's face. "I had a really good time at the park," she said with a secretive smile and then jumped into preparing the meatloaf. When dinner was done and eaten she cleared off the dishes and went to her cupboard and fell peacefully asleep. In the morning she jumped up and ran to the bathroom for a shower, she planned to go to the park again today so she dressed up in one of her cuter outfits. It was a gray blouse with purple rhinestone flowers and a pair of denim shorts that ended mid thigh and her pair of gray flip-flops. Her aunt decided to just leave her hair down today but she made sure it was brushed nicely before they went into the kitchen.

When Claryssa showed up at the park with her bag, Cedric was already sitting in the swing from yesterday, so she sat in the swing she had been sitting in the day before and turned to him and smiled. "Good morning Claryssa, how did you sleep?" he asked politely. "Very well thank you, how about you?" she said politely, "Good actually," he replied. "I thought you said you don't like gray?" he asked referring to her blouse, "I like gray but only when it has color to flare it up, remember I said that yesterday?" she retorted. "Oh right, well anyways did you get farther in your book?" he asked. "Sadly no, I helped with dinner and ate, and then went to sleep, I was very tired, I didn't sleep well the night before." She replied.

"Any particular reason why?" he asked and noticed her clam up, "I had an issue with my uncle," she said and then looked away embarrassed Cedric was confused but changed the subject again, "I told my parents about you, they said I could invite you to our house for lunch. So would you care to join us for lunch?" he asked. "I'd love to," Claryssa said with a grin and he grinned back, "Excellent," he said and they continued their conversation. At lunch time Claryssa followed Cedric to his house and even waved at Mrs. Figg through her window. Cedric opened the door and held it open for her and she smiled and thanked him, "Ced your letter from school should be coming tomorrow morning," his mom yelled down the hall from the kitchen. "Thank you mom, we have a visitor," he told his mother politely. _He's always polite and gentlemanly _Claryssa thought and then continued following him to the kitchen.

"Well hello Claryssa, Cedric told us about you last night," she said in a sweet soft voice, _this was obviously where Cedric got his voice _Claryssa thought. "Thank you for inviting me for lunch Mrs. Diggory," Claryssa said, "Oh please, call me Cecilia," she told her with a grin. "Alright Cecilia," Claryssa said nervously, she wasn't allowed to call adults by their first name at home. "Well, well, well, you must be Claryssa," said a loud boisterous voice behind her and she jumped and turned around quickly to see Cedric's dad. "Yes sir, I'm Claryssa Potter it's a pleasure to meet you," she said and offered her hand. "Amos Diggory but you may call me Amos," he said happily while shaking her arm hard. "Dad her arm will fall off if you continue shaking her arm like that," Cedric said with a laugh.

"Ah my apologies just glad to meet the famous Claryssa Potter," he said and Claryssa raised her eyebrow, _Famous? Cedric only met me yesterday jeez _she thought to herself with a giggle. "Well let's sit down at the table," Cedric said and they all went to the table to sit while Cecilia placed the food on the table, there was fried chicken, macaroni salad, corn on the cob, and dinner rolls. Claryssa sat and waited for everyone to serve themselves before taking a scoop of macaroni salad, which she'd never tasted before, a roll, a piece of corn and a small piece of chicken and then began munching slowly. The chicken was delicious and perforated her mouth with a very mild spicy feeling of heaven; it was the best chicken she had ever tasted. "Oh my god this is delicious," she told Cecilia who just smiled. Claryssa tried the Macaroni salad and found it delicious as well; she especially loved the little chunks of cheddar cheese in it. Claryssa ate the rest of her meal savoring each flavor with a smile on her face. When she was done she dabbed her mouth and said with a grin, "Thank you so much that was the most delicious food I've ever tasted." "No thank you for joining us for lunch," Cecilia said with another smile and then Claryssa excused herself from the table to find the bathroom.

After she was done with her business Claryssa gussied herself up in the mirror to make sure she still looked good and then walked back to the kitchen. "Claryssa would you like to go back to the park?" Cedric asked her as if reading her mind and she nodded and said, "Yes please," and they walked out the front door back into the sunshine. They walked back to their swings and began to actually swing, Claryssa was enjoying the feeling of wind blowing through her hair and she thought _this must be what its like to fly. _She was enjoying herself so much she began to giggle a sweet sugary sound that stopped Cedric in his tracks; he had never heard something that sounded so pure.

"Claryssa your laugh is beautiful" he told her and she smiled back and said, "Thank you so is your smile." She then blushed at her boldness and slowed down her swinging until she was stopped. "Thank you," he said with another beautiful smile. "Your welcome" she said and they began talking again, "So what's your favorite color?" he asked her, "You mean you haven't guessed?" she said with a giggle, "Not by far," he told her and she giggled again. "My favorite color is purple and yours?" she said, "Mine's emerald green but it used to be gray" he said with a blush, "Why did it change?" she asked, "I like gray because I haven't seen many people with my color eyes but it changed because I looked into yours," he said with a nervous cough and a blush. "Oh…" she said and she also nervously coughed and blushed.

"So when does your school term start?" she asked to change the subject, he smiled to thank her and then said, "September 1st, it's always September 1st every year." He said, "That must be nice to know exactly when it starts, I believe mine starts then as well but I'm not sure," she told him. "Yeah it's nice but I don't get to see my parents except for during Christmas, Easter, and the summer time." He said, "Is everyone required to go home during those times?" she asked, "Oh no just those who choose to go do, but the others stay during those times." He informed her. "Ah ok, that sounds good for me but if I had parents I'd probably feel like you do," she said. "Probably," he said with a smile. "Your parents are very nice people," she told him, "Thank you, I'm sure yours were as well." He said. "I know mine were, my aunt and uncle never talk about them but I just know deep down they were." She said. "That's a good thing to know." She said with a smile and she nodded and smiled back.

"So are you like the Cinderella of your house?" he asked. "You could say that, my aunt and I do all the cooking and chores, she does it to spoil the guys, I do it because I have to." She told him, "That seems unfair, your cousin is spoiled and your neglected?" she said, "Yeah but I've been dealing with it for almost 10 years now so needless to say I'm used to it." She said with a sigh. "That sucks, you could come live with us if you want, we have a spare bedroom." He said, "Thank you for the offer but I'll be fine where I am," she said not actually wanting to tell him about her fears about her uncle turning on her aunt like he did on her. "Alright if you say so," he said, "I do say so" she said. While they were talking the sun had begun setting but she thought nothing of it at the time, she was enjoying her time with her new friend. "Claryssa dinner is done, you were supposed to be home an hour ago to help make it," her cousin Dudley told her and she shot up form her swing instantaneously. "Oh crap, sorry Cedric I gotta go, I'll come again if I can tomorrow. I'm in so much trouble!" she said and then took off running towards her cousin who just gave her an evil smile.

"What are you smiling about?" she asked him, "You've got yourself a boyfriend" he said smiling slyly, "No he isn't my boyfriend, just a guy I met I may be able to call him a friend."" She said defensively and they walked through the front door, she dropped her bag off and then hurried to the kitchen. "Sorry I lost track of time, I promise it won't happen again." She said before sitting at the table. "Too right it won't, you aren't allowed to leave the house again for awhile," he uncle said meanly and gleefully. Claryssa sighed sadly and then waited for everyone to serve themselves, before taking her small portion of pork chop, green beans, and rice. After she was done eating she began clearing the dishes and putting away any leftovers, which was mainly just the rice. "Guess what dad?" Dudley said with a gleeful smile towards Claryssa who shook her head pleadingly, "What is it son?" he asked, "Claryssa has herself a boyfriend, she was sitting down at the park with him on the swing set and they were talking." Dudley said and Claryssa screamed internally.

"Do you now Claryssa?" her uncle said interested. "No I don't have a boyfriend, it's just some guy I met at the park and we were just talking about school." Claryssa said, "Somehow I just don't believe you." Her uncle said suspiciously, "Believe what you want but that's all it was," she said before walking to her cupboard and shutting the door. When her aunt and Dudley were in bed her uncle came to visit her again, "Hi Claryssa, it's time for payback for getting a boyfriend without telling me," he said, "He isn't my boyfriend but if he was I wouldn't need to ask your permission, it's my choice." She said smartly but instantly regretted it after seeing a wicked grin spread across his face. "Oh really now?" he taunted and then dragged her back up stairs to Dudley's second room.

He took off his belt and held her down and actually began whipping her in the back with the buckle and she could feel her skin break and she moaned in pain. He threw his belt down after it was covered in her blood and then he began punching and kicking her. "This is for that smart comment of yours you little brat." He said to her while the punches and kicks continued. Claryssa moved slightly to protect her face but that left her chest wide open and his foot connected with her ribs and she heard a few cracks. She wheezed but couldn't do anything else, her uncle stopped hitting her so she thought it was over until she felt his hand going in between her thighs, she couldn't close her legs in time so he ripped her underwear off again from underneath her night gown and held her down again putting pressure on the bruises she already had from his hands.

"This is for your little boyfriend, are you fucking him too you little slut?" he asked gleefully as he thrust himself into her sore tissue and she felt it rip again. "I'm not fucking anyone, Uncle Vernon I don't want this, you're forcing this onto me and it's considered rape." She told him but he smacked her across the face for back talking. "You will work with me this time" he told her but she didn't know what he was saying, "Last time you just laid there, this time you will thrust back because you know you enjoy this, don't deny it you whore." He said as he thrust himself in her again, "I don't want to I don't enjoy this at all,' she cried, "Don't lie to me, if you don't cooperate then Dudley will tell me who your friend is and I'll kill him in front of you." He told her evilly, "Leave Cedric out of this," she said as forcefully as she could through her broken ribs. "Oh his name's Cedric is it?" he said "Well then Cedric will die for sure" he said and she begged him, "Please don't hurt him Uncle Vernon." "I won't if you cooperate," he said gleefully and then enjoyed the sensation of his niece thrusting with him as she cried for her friend.

Claryssa was disgusted with herself; she just had sex almost willingly with her uncle to protect her new friend, _would he ever like me for this? _She thought but seriously doubted it, she wasn't pure and she knew he was. "Claryssa, you can leave the house again but every time you see Cedric, we will do this again and again until you enjoy it. I know you're going to see him again." He said gleefully and she knew he was right, she wanted to see Cedric again, he was her only friend and if this is what she had to pay to see him then she'd do it. Claryssa was too weak to move after this round of abuse but she crawled down the stairs painfully until she reached her cupboard because she knew she wasn't allowed to be in Dudley's second bedroom. She cried again and thought of what Cedric would think of her if he ever found out about this until she drifted into a painful slumber.


	4. Ch 4 The Letters From No One

Chapter 4: The Letters from No One

When Claryssa woke up she was still sore and again she had dried blood between her thighs so she ran off to take a shower and came back to get dressed in a plain white tee shirt with a pair of light blue denim Capri's and her white and blue Etnies that her aunt found on sale at a thrift store. She walked to her bathroom with her aunt and her aunt put her hair up in a tight bun and slid a clip with a purple butterfly on it into the right side of her bun and a pink butterfly clip into the left side. At breakfast Dudley was modeling his new Smeltings uniform, it was maroon and almost skin tight. Claryssa took one look and sniggered and gagged to herself, he was proud of himself for getting into his father's old school but Claryssa was glad she'd be going to a different school than Dudley for the first time. Claryssa was lost in her own amusements when she was told to get the mail and when she did she saw a letter for her, it looked fancy it was of a heavy paper material and had beautiful curly script in emerald green writing. It was addressed:

Claryssa Potter

The Cupboard under the Stairs

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

Claryssa was shocked to actually have mail so she walked into the kitchen and handed the rest of the mail to her uncle. She began opening her letter when Dudley smacked her hand with his new Smelting stick which made her drop it on the table and he snatched it and said, "Dad, dad Claryssa's got a letter," "Hey give it back it's mine" she said loudly, "Yours? Who'd be writing to you?" he said and then turned the letter over to reveal a coat of arms of a huge H with a lion, a snake, an eagle and a badger around it. His face paled slightly and he showed it to Aunt Petunia who said, "Dudley, Claryssa please leave the room, Vernon and I need to talk." "No I want my letter," Claryssa said while Dudley said, "I wanna read that letter," which made Claryssa retort, "Can you even read?" earning her a smack across the face with the Smelting stick.

"Both of you out," her uncle ordered and they left and had a silent fight over who'd listen at the key hole, Dudley won leaving Claryssa with a couple more welts from the Smelting stick and her glasses askew. She listened at the crack at the bottom of the door, "I will not have one of those freaks in my household Petunia, it's already bad enough that you took her in when she showed up on our doorstep," her uncle said, "I don't want one either, we swore we'd stamp it out of her by this time though and you know we had to keep her." Her aunt said, "Yes well what are we going to do? I refuse to let them have her," her uncle said, "We'll ignore it and they won't send anymore," her aunt said and then she heard the sound of ripping papers.

After they were let back in both Claryssa and Dudley tried to ask for the letter but both knew it was gone. Claryssa stomped to her cupboard and shut the door to get her bag when her uncle came in, "I want my letter" she said again "It was addressed to you by accident," he told her, "No it wasn't it had my cupboard on it" she said angrily. "Yes about this cupboard your aunt and I have agreed that you are too big for it and are giving you Dudley's second bedroom." He said, "I'd rather have my letter," she said which made him angry, "You aren't getting that bloody letter now grab your stuff and go upstairs to your new bedroom." He almost yelled. It didn't take her much to get all her stuff up stairs; she didn't have a lot of stuff. When she got everything there she began clearing all the rubbish out while her uncle went to work. She took the mattress her uncle had raped her on and threw it in the dumpster outside along with all of Dudley's old broken toys and such. When it was clear she rearranged her belongings the way she liked them along with a desk, office chair, and work light she found under the pile of rubbish. There was also a small bookshelf of books that Dudley never wanted that she decided to keep as her own.

She now had a total of 19 books to call her own and she was ecstatic. She decided now that her uncle was gone she'd make a run for the park to try to see Cedric. When she got there he was sitting at his swing with a smile on his face waiting for her. "Hello Claryssa how was your morning?" he asked her as soon as she was in earshot. "It was ok I guess. I got a letter today for the first time since I've lived here." She told him while sitting down on her swing. "What kind of letter was it?" he asked excitedly knowing where it was from. "I don't know my aunt and uncle wouldn't let me read it, they said it was addressed to me by accident but I know it wasn't, it had my cupboard on it." She said upset and then instantly covered her mouth realizing she revealed too much. "Your cupboard?" he questioned and she dropped her head, "I sleep in the cupboard under the stairs at my house or at least I used to until today when my uncle forced me to move my stuff to Dudley's second bedroom, where he was keeping all of his old or broken toys." She told him after sighing in defeat.

"Why would they do that to you?" he asked, "My relatives think I'm just a waste of space most of the time, as I said before my aunt is nice to me when the guys aren't around but still I can tell they really don't want me around." She said sadly, "but why don't they want you around?" he asked "Because I'm my mother's child, my aunt hated my mother because of some unknown reason and I'm a constant reminder of her so my family hates me." She told him honestly, "That is ridiculous, you are smart and sweet and funny and you are the most wonderful girl I've ever met, I can't believe a family would treat you like that." He said getting a bit emotional. Claryssa smiled at him and said, "Thank you for your kindness but don't worry about it, I can handle myself so please don't tell your parents." "I won't only because you asked Claryssa," he told her with a slight bow making her blush ever so slightly.

"So how was your morning Cedric?" she asked to change the subject, "I got my letter from school informing me of anything new I would need for school and I was going to go shopping for my new school supplies but father needed to go into work so we'll be going tomorrow morning, so I may be a bit late to the park if you can come." He told her, "I'll try my best to be here," she promised with a smile. "Claryssa would you care to take a walk with me?" he asked politely and she nodded and they walked around the neighborhood talking carelessly about everything that popped into their heads. "I now have 19 books and I love it, I wish I had more though, I don't usually get to do anything fun but read at my house and I've read Black Beauty probably 100 times already, the other books I got today when I moved my stuff into Dudley's second bedroom because he doesn't like to read. He doesn't do anything but watch TV, play video games and bully people." She told him, "I have a nice book collection myself; you're welcome to come and borrow some at anytime. I love to read as well, it's my favorite hobby." He replied. "I'd love that," she told him with a smile.

They walked around until about dinner time, there was still some light out when they showed up in front of her house. "How do you like my garden Cedric?" she asked him when they were standing in front of her house. "It's beautiful, as is the one who takes care of it." He told her and she blushed. "Thank you," she told him quietly, "You know you've worn your hair in pretty much every style possible and it still amazes me how nice you look in everything you try." He told her making her blush deeper. "Cedric I would like to thank you for being so caring and nice to me, you are my very first friend." She told him with a small smile, "I'll try to be there tomorrow to see you, you brighten every day for me but I should probably get inside to help with dinner." She said, "I understand Claryssa, I will look forward to seeing you again." He told her before he bent down and kissed her cheek. He walked away with a smile on his face and Claryssa walked inside still blushing and smiling.

When she walked through the front door she made her way to the kitchen only to be stopped by Dudley, "Who was that Claryssa?" he asked her, "He's my friend," she simply said and then thanked her aunt's impeccable timing, "Claryssa please come in and help me with dinner," she said and Claryssa bounced happily into the kitchen and began cooking. During dinner Claryssa was chewing her food slowly thinking of her last conversation with Cedric and how he made her feel. She was enjoying the silence but of course nothing ever stayed the way she wanted it, "So Claryssa why did your friend kiss you on the cheek earlier?" Dudley asked jumping at a chance to get her in trouble. "I don't know he walked me home and said goodnight" she said hoping he would drop it.

"A boy kissed you Claryssa?" her uncle said with an angry gleam in his eye and she sighed in defeat, she knew she'd be punished for this. "He was just saying good night, I didn't know he would kiss my cheek," she said wishing more than anything Dudley had never said a word. "We will have to talk about this later Claryssa, that is inappropriate for your age." He told her making her groan loudly, making his anger flare up in his eyes again. "Vernon I will talk to her about it later, it's more appropriate for me to talk with her." Aunt Petunia piped up making Claryssa smile inwardly, hoping her aunt could save her. "Fine you will talk to her but I will as well after you are done, she needs both opinions." He told her and her aunt agreed much to her dismay.

"It was just a kiss on the cheek, what's the big deal?" she said but instantly wished she had remained silent because her uncle slapped her across the face in front of her aunt and Dudley. "You are too young to be getting mixed up in that sort of behavior; you'll turn into a slut if you continue." He yelled at her as she sat there stunned, "Vernon please refrain from slapping her at my dinner table," Aunt Petunia said after recovering herself she'd never thought she'd see Claryssa get slapped. "Dad I watched her out there, she was hanging on his every word like she liked him a lot, I think she should be forbidden to see him again," Dudley said with a nasty smile in her direction. "I absolutely agree son, Claryssa you will never be able to see this Cedric chap again, because he's no good for you." Uncle Vernon said and Claryssa's jaw dropped. "Uncle Vernon that's not fair he's the only friend I've ever had and all we do is talk, there's nothing more than that, he kissed my cheek to be nice that's it, please don't forbid me from seeing him." Claryssa pleaded.

"Vernon that's uncalled for, I believe she should be able to see her friend and this will be a warning, if something like this happens again then she won't be able to see him." Aunt Petunia said much to Claryssa's astonishment, her aunt wasn't supposed to be nice to her in front of them. "Whose side are you on?" Dudley asked angrily, "I'm on your guys' of course Duddykins but I remember what's it like to be a little girl, friends are very important." Aunt Petunia said. "Fine this will be your one and only warning Claryssa, if it happens again I will force you to stay away from him, do you hear me young lady?" her uncle said haughtily, "Yes Uncle Vernon," she said with a sigh of relief.

After dinner she made her way to her bedroom after helping with dishes, waiting for the inevitable. Her aunt walked in and sat next to her on the bed, "How's your face Claryssa?" she asked immediately, "It doesn't hurt as much now" she replied though she could feel the raised welt in the shape of his hand. Her aunt grabbed a cool washcloth and placed it on her face and it stung at first but then helped soothe the welt. "That was uncalled for at dinner, all that stuff about your friend, you deserve to have at least one friend seeing as Dudley scares off everyone else." Aunt Petunia said, "I'm sorry I didn't do anything but say it was uncalled for, I was rather shocked your uncle slapped you." She apologized to Claryssa. "I know I was shocked that he slapped me in front of you guys as well." Claryssa said, "Just in front of us, I'd have been shocked that he slapped you at all if I were you." Her aunt said confused, "He's slapped me before when it was just him and I but I saw no point in saying anything so please don't tell him I told you." Claryssa said pleadingly, she really didn't want her aunt to know that he's slapped her and much worse.

"Alright I won't say anything," Aunt Petunia said before clearing her throat to start on the "issue" at hand. "Well I know you are about to turn 11 and boys are now seeming interesting to you but, it isn't good to let them kiss you or anything other than hugging at your age. I'm not saying you'll turn into a slut like your uncle did if this is allowed but I think it's best to try to keep your innocence for as long as possible." Her aunt explained making her blush. This conversation turned a bit weird but it was too late her innocence had already been taken against her will. "Aunt Petunia I have no interest in losing my innocence as you put it, I'd love to stay innocent as long as possible and I don't plan on going around kissing anyone or letting them kiss me for a very long time." Claryssa said embarrassed. "That's good Claryssa, keep all your firsts for awhile, and make your first kiss special and definitely your first time doing **that **even more special." Aunt Petunia said putting an emphasis on the word that. Claryssa blushed again; _this conversation is just embarrassing _Claryssa thought to herself.

"Ok I think we are done with this subject, it's embarrassing us both." Aunt Petunia said and Claryssa sighed in relief, "Yes thank you, this is way too embarrassing." Claryssa agreed. "I'll be right back I'm going to give you a bowl of clean cold water to relieve your welt further," Aunt Petunia said and then left the room quickly. Claryssa laid back on her back waiting for her aunt's return breathing deeply; she was scared of her uncle's punishment over Cedric. If it was possible for her to just stop seeing him and talking to him to protect herself then she would but she was shall we say hooked on his presence, he calmed her and let her be normal for a few hours a day and she loved that release. She had no idea what she'd do when he went off to school and she was stuck here, she could probably send him letters but that wouldn't be the same. The thought of losing her only relief from stress and her horrible life would be gone in a few short months made her very sad, she almost began to cry. That's when her aunt walked back in with the bowl and she put the washcloth back in the bowl. "Thank you Aunt Petunia," she said before her aunt walked back out and Claryssa hid the bowl under her bed so her uncle wouldn't see it. Claryssa waited patiently for her uncle to come punish her and she knew it was going to happen.

When Claryssa was relaxed and thinking maybe he wouldn't come she heard her door open and fear set in. "Hello Claryssa, it's time for your punishment," her uncle said gleefully. She looked up to see her uncle's belt already wrapped around his hand and his pants unbuttoned. Claryssa tried to prepare herself for pain but she wasn't ready for the blow to her ribs that seriously knocked the wind out of her, she heard all of her ribs crack and she moaned in pain, biting her lip to stop any screams that would've escaped. He began beating her with his belt, his feet, and his fists until she was almost unconscious. He was getting ready to remove his trousers when Aunt Petunia yelled, "Vernon I need your help with something!" and he growled in anger before buttoning his pants and putting his belt back on. "Coming dear!" he said in his kindest voice before landing another kick to Claryssa's head and walking out.

Claryssa moaned painfully and started to grab the bowl; she ripped off her night gown and used the washcloth to wipe away her blood. She cried the whole time because the cold water stung her wounds on her back; she couldn't wipe them all so she cleaned what she could and then rinsed off the washcloth in the water and put her nightgown back on. Her stomach lurched and she knew she was about to be sick so she crawled to the bathroom across the hall and got sick in the toilet. When the content of her stomach was empty she crawled back to her room to breathe. Her aunt saved her just in the knick of time thankfully but she knew it'd be worse next time he punished her because of that. Claryssa's throat was dry so she grabbed her tea glass and gulped what little there was left.

She looked in the glass and realized she was still thirsty, she wished there'd be more and to her astonishment the glass refilled. _That whole week I couldn't eat I only sipped it and it would've refilled?_ She thought to herself irritated. Claryssa drank some more tea and then put it away in her safe spot for it. She crawled onto the bed and fell asleep thinking of how easy she got off. In the morning she was stiff and could barely move some dried blood cracked when she moved and she felt her pain ripple through her body again. She got up and walked downstairs slowly to her bathroom and took a longer shower than usual, she used her back loofa to scrub the remnants of the blood off and then used her regular loofa to wash the rest of her body. Her cucumber melon body wash invigorated her senses as she lathered herself enjoying her shower and her Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner for unruly hair soothed her as she scrubbed her head, she loved the smells of her bath stuff. After her shower she walked back up stairs and got dressed quickly in her red tank top with an emblem of a yellow rose on it and her black knee length skirt with her black flip flops with a fake yellow rose on each. She walked out her bedroom door to find her aunt standing there waiting, "Good morning Aunt Petunia," she said, "Good morning Claryssa, did I save you from your uncle's embarrassing conversation he was bound to have with you?" she asked.

"Uh yeah I'm glad you called him at that moment it seemed like it was about to get worse." She told her aunt "Well good now let's go downstairs and do your hair" Aunt Petunia said while pointing at the stairs. "Sounds good, I was thinking we could do it in a way where it covers my back." Claryssa said as they walked into the bathroom. "Alright then half up, half down it is." Her aunt said and went to work; after her aunt was done she put her lily clip in again and followed her aunt to the kitchen. "So how did you distract him from coming back to finish the talk?" Claryssa asked curiously. "I distracted him and that's all you really need to know," her aunt said. "Alright well thanks anyway," she said and then busied herself into making the eggs. "Your welcome." Her aunt said and they finished cooking without talking.

At breakfast Dudley was told to get the mail when he did, he came running back in with it, "There's three more letter!" Dudley said excitedly, "Give me my letters!" Claryssa ordered but Uncle Vernon snatched them out of Dudley's hands and ripped them into ribbons before her eyes. "Why won't you give me my letters?!" Claryssa demanded, "Because I refuse to let you have them, that's why." Her uncle argued back and Claryssa rolled her eyes and shoveled down the rest of her food and stormed out of the kitchen to go to her bedroom and grab her bag. "Get back here young lady!" her uncle yelled as she stalked towards the door angrily. "No I hate you!" she screamed and then walked out the front door towards the park.

When she got there Cedric was nowhere to be seen but lying on her swing was a square package wrapped in sparkly purple wrapping and a grey ribbon. She walked up to it and read the little card that said To: Claryssa From: Cedric, Happy Early Birthday. She found this curious because her birthday was still a couple days away and she was hoping she'd be seeing him then. She slowly opened the wrapping because she found it so beautiful and folded it and placed it in her bag. Her present was a book called The Witches by Roald Dahl; she was so excited she opened the book and plopped down on the swing. Pain shot through her torso from her severe beating last night she had to stop to breathe deeply. When the pain decreased she started reading, she was really into the book she didn't notice the shadow come up behind her.

"Enjoying your present?" Cedric said from behind her making her jump and then yell out in pain from the motion. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, are you alright?" he asked worried. "I'm ok, don't worry about it," she told him. "I love my present." She told him with a smile. "I'm glad you like it," he said as he smiled back. "Anything exciting happen while I was away shopping?" he asked, "Not really, I got more letters but my uncle tore them to shreds." She said angrily. "Why'd he do that?" Cedric asked, "He doesn't want me to read them for some reason, the only ideas I have are very choppy," she said and then explained what she heard her aunt and uncle say the morning she got her first letter. "One what?" he asked after explanation. "I don't know, that's what I wanted to know," she said stumped. "Well maybe you got accepted into one of those top notch boarding schools where you'll go to learn to be a prissy little teen diva," he said fooling around with ideas. Claryssa laughed, "Oh yes I'm sure he's just scared to have a teenage girl living in his house." She said sarcastically, "Well you never know, it could be something more interesting." He said, "Like what?" she asked, "I got accepted into some science academy where they'll use me as a test subject?" she said jokingly.

"You could've been or maybe you got accepted into my boarding school," he said slyly, "Do you know something I don't?" she asked catching his slyness. "Nope I don't but even if I did I wouldn't tell you." He said jokingly "And why not?" she asked haughtily, "Because you might turn all prissy princess on me like at that school we know you're going to." He joked. "I will not be going to a school like that!" she yelled laughing. "And if you are?" he asked with a smile, "I'd be a queen, none of that princess stuff," she said with a smile. "Oh really now, should I start calling you Queen Claryssa now?" he joked back. "Oh God no, that sounds too weird," she admitted. "Alright then," he said with another smile.

"I hope I do get into your boarding school though, that way I can see you whenever I want," she admitted sheepishly. "I hope so too," he told her. "So when do they start accepting new people into your school?" she asked, "About now right when they send out our letters for our new stuff," he told her. "So maybe it was a letter from your school then," she added hopefully. "We can only hope," he said smiling knowingly. "Did you know that a yellow rose is the sign of friendship?" he asked her pointing at her shirt. "No I didn't," she said a bit surprised, "Yep so I think you wore a perfect shirt, I consider you a good friend," he told her smiling, "I consider you a good friend as well," she said smiling back. "So how was your evening Cedric?" she asked, "It was nice, outside your garden was my favorite part." He told her. "How was yours?" he asked her, "Mine was nice until I got home, outside my garden was also my favorite part" she said, "What happened when you got home?" he asked, "My cousin saw you kiss my cheek and told my aunt and uncle and my uncle freaked out and punished me," she said. "Why did he punish you?" he asked, "He said it was inappropriate behavior for my age and that I'd become a slut if I continued and he slapped me across the face for asking what the big deal was." She explained.

"I'm sorry I caused you so many problems," he said sadly, "Please don't blame yourself, it's my families fault for reacting the way they did." She pleaded, "If you say so," he said and she nodded her confirmation. "It's getting dark should you be going?" he asked, "I suppose I should but I wish I didn't have to," she told him with a sad smile, "I feel the same," he told her as he helped her up off the swing. He walked her to the corner of her street holding her hand; she was embarrassed but happy the whole time. "Good night Cedric," she said with a smile, 'Good night Claryssa," he answered back with a smile and she walked away towards her house.

When she got home she hurriedly helped with dinner and then sat down at the table to wait for her uncle and Dudley to begin to eat, when she went to go serve herself her uncle stopped her. "What did I do wrong?" she asked curiously, "This is continued punishment for yesterday's behavior and those damn letters," he told her and she slumped back against her seat before excusing herself from the table. She went to the bedroom to continue reading and tripped over a floorboard that had begun to loosen. She grabbed it and pulled up to find a little area where she could hider her things, so she grabbed her candy her aunt had bought her and opened it to reveal her candies, she grabbed one and ate it savoring the flavor.

She closed the box and hid it in there and then took a big gulp of her tea, she began reading and sipping her tea and when she was finished with the tea it refilled and she put it under the floorboard with her candy. She heard her uncle coming up the stairs so she put her book up and sat there quietly hoping he wouldn't come in. When he didn't she sighed a deep sigh of relief which hurt her sides. She continued to read and enjoy her quiet evening though she was hungry. At 9:00 she heard the floorboards creaking in the hallway out side and knew her evening was about to become more painful so she put her book up again and waited for him to walk in. As he walked in Claryssa paled and he smiled evilly, "It's time to finish what I started yesterday." He said maliciously, "Why do you have to continue to torture me? You tortured me enough yesterday, I can barely breathe without hurting." She told him, "I didn't get to finish yesterday because your aunt called me and I ended up getting my sex anyways but still, you're more fun" he said and she gagged, '_Way more information than I needed to know_' she thought to herself.

Her uncle grabbed his belt and walked over to her and began his punishment whipping her at every available part of her body she rolled over so he could only hit her back and she moaned painfully as she felt the metal go deeper and deeper into her skin. When he was done he rolled her over and began with the punching and kicking of her lithe body and cracked her ribs again. She couldn't move because of her pain and she could barely stay conscious when he began to penetrate her. She had lost a lot of blood and she could barely breathe and all light was fading from her sight. She slipped into unconsciousness and didn't know when he left or when he stopped all she knew was her mind was temporarily safe from her uncle.

When she awoke it was dark outside and her stomach growled from hunger, she looked at her alarm clock and it read 10:00 PM. '_There's no way I was only out for a few minutes_' she thought and she looked around. She was on the ground and there was a puddle of already dried blood and vomit around her, she grabbed that bowl and cloth her aunt had given her the other night and wiped as much off of her as she could biting her lip to stop any noise from escaping. She crawled downstairs and checked the clock down stairs; she had been unconscious for a whole 24 hours. She went into the refrigerator and saw no leftovers so she grabbed a juice box and sucked it down to get something in her stomach.

She crawled back upstairs in time to see her uncle going back into his room from the bathroom humming something horribly off tune. She whimpered in fear and waited for the door to close before she crawled back into her room to the loose floorboard, she grabbed a couple of pieces of candy and ate them and chugged her cup of tea watching it refill once more. She put everything back and sat there in pain, she felt bad for not seeing Cedric and she hoped he'd forgive her. She remembered she still had dried blood all over her and crawled back downstairs and showered feeling her injuries burn and sting, she looked in the mirror and was horrified at what she saw, there was cuts, lacerations, and bruises all over her body. The dark blues, purples, and greens looked worse in contrast to her pale complexion and she hurriedly put her bathrobe on and walked back upstairs to the best of her ability. When she got in her room she through on one of her night gowns and fell back into a fitful sleep. When she woke up she went downstairs to take another shower because she felt dry blood crack when she got up which means she bled more over night. When she was clean she walked back upstairs and got dressed in her green ¾ sleeve blouse and blue jeans. Her aunt did her hair in pigtails and they made breakfast, she watched the guys gorge themselves on her share as well and then walked up to her room to drink some more tea.

She walked downstairs to go to the park and found more letters as she went to grab one her uncle came out and snatched them from her grasp. "You aren't getting these blasted letters so stop trying!" he sneered at her. She started to head towards the park when her uncle said, "You aunt is looking for you, you have chores to do after your sick day." He said smiling menacingly, '_So that's what he told them_' she said and then walked back inside. "Claryssa how are you feeling today?" her aunt asked after making sure Uncle Vernon left. "I feel better thank you," she said. "Alright your uncle ordered me to give you chores so I need you to clean your bathroom, Dudley's bathroom, and our bathroom as well as the living room, and I will clean the kitchen, the dining room, Dudley's bedroom, and our bedroom." Her aunt said and sighed before she set off towards her bathroom.

Claryssa scrubbed her bathroom spotless before moving on upstairs to Dudley's bathroom. When she walked in she gagged, his dirty underwear and clothes were everywhere but the hamper. She went downstairs to ask her aunt, "Do I have to touch Dudley's dirty clothes?" "No I'll do that," and then followed Claryssa upstairs. After her aunt cleaned up the clothes Claryssa scrubbed the bathroom clean ending with the toilet which grossly enough had gunk all over the seat. Claryssa gagged the whole time but she managed to get the bathroom clean. Then moved into her aunt's bedroom to clean the bathroom, when she walked in she noticed how clean it already was. She saw no point in cleaning it but did anyway so she didn't get into trouble. When she was done she moved to the living room and began to straighten it up, when she was done perfecting the living room her aunt walked in with a tray of sandwiches.

"Time to eat lunch" Aunt Petunia said and Claryssa instantly started eating, she had eaten three sandwiches before she chugged her first glass of lemonade. "Thank you Aunt Petunia, I feel loads better" she told her aunt and then poured herself another glass of lemonade. After lunch she asked, "Can I go to the park to see my friend?" "Your friend stopped by yesterday to see if you were ok and Dudley answered the door, he told him that you weren't feeling good and that you decided you didn't want to be friends with him anymore, the poor boy walked away sadly, he's very polite and handsome your friend." Her aunt told her and Claryssa's jaw dropped. "Why would Dudley tell him that?!" Claryssa demanded angrily. "He doesn't want you to have any friends" her aunt said making Claryssa roll her eyes, '_As if I didn't already know that_' she thought angrily. "Thanks for telling me" she said to her aunt and then started walking towards her room to get her bag.

"Where are you going?" Aunt Petunia asked. "To go and try to remedy this situation," Claryssa said and then walked out the door before her aunt could say anymore. When she got to Cedric's doorstep she knocked and stood on the door step uneasily. Cecilia answered the door and said, "Hello Claryssa, Cedric isn't here right now, he went to work with his father today." "Oh alright thank you, when you see him can you tell him I said sorry about yesterday I wasn't feeling well and what my cousin said was a lie, I would love to stay friends with him." She said and Cecilia nodded her head and shut the door. Claryssa slumped her shoulders and began walking back towards her house; she was upset that Dudley would lie to Cedric like that. She was also upset that her uncle wouldn't let her have her letters. When she got back home she began working in the garden to soothe her sadness, she always felt better working in the garden.

When she was done with the garden Dudley came home, "Why did you tell my one and only friend that I didn't want to be friends with him anymore?!" she yelled at him, "You don't deserve friends, your stupid and you don't care about anyone but yourself." He told her, "As if, you are the stupid one who doesn't care about anyone but yourself, your fat and lazy and you depend on your mother way too much, if you lost your parents right now you wouldn't know how to take care of yourself, you'd probably die but me I can cook, I can clean, and I could survive without the aid of your mummy and daddy." She spat angrily. "Well at least my parents aren't dead and I don't have to mooch off of other people." He said verbally slapping her in the face. "I can't control the fact that my parents died and I got stuck living in this hell hole!" she said angrily and with tears streaming down her face she tackled him to the ground and started punching him in the face and any available part of his body.

"I hate you, you foul loathsome fat pig, and your father is just the same he's disgusting and cruel and I hope one day Aunt Petunia can be rid of you!" she screamed making Dudley punch her in the gut knocking the wind out of her. "Don't talk about my father like that or me!" he yelled angrily, "I'll talk about you slobs however I feel like!" she screamed angrily before continuing punching him. When Aunt Petunia heard the screaming she ran out side to see Claryssa wailing on Dudley and she sat there with a surprised look on her face. "Claryssa Lily Potter you get off of your cousin that is very unladylike!" she yelled before running over and grabbing Claryssa from behind and pulling. Claryssa yelled out in pain as her aunt squeezed her around her ribs area and let herself be pulled off her cousin.

"What has gotten into you Claryssa?" her aunt asked "He made fun of the fact that my parents were dead!" she yelled hiding the other parts of the conversation. "That isn't something you can control try not to let it get to you, now go inside before your uncle comes home." She said and then walked over to Dudley to help him up, "Did she hurt you Duddykins?" she asked him and began crying; telling her of everywhere Claryssa had hit him. When Claryssa got in her room she slammed the door shut and screamed into her pillow, regretting it after the fact as pain shot through her body. She hadn't realized it before with her fight with Dudley because of her adrenaline rush but now she felt all the soreness from her screaming and strenuous activity.

When it was dinner time she helped with dinner and then again watched as her uncle and Dudley scarfed down their dinner. Dudley's right eye was swollen shut practically and he had small bruises here and there forming and Claryssa smiled to herself, '_That's what he gets_' she thought and she was still surprised at herself for fighting him to begin with. She had never had the courage to hit him before but then again he had never insulted her parents before. That night Claryssa got the beating of her life for hurting her cousin, she could barely move the morning after and it continued all week. Everyday she got more letters but was still not allowed to have them, her beatings got worse everyday and her health was declining rapidly. She couldn't leave the house to see Cedric as added punishment for beating up Dudley and Claryssa became more depressed and began believing she was worthless as her uncle kept telling her.


	5. Ch 5 Claryssa’s Escape and Her Letter

Chapter 5: Claryssa's Escape and Her Letter

Claryssa woke up just to crawl downstairs and take another painful shower, her cuts and lacerations got deeper with every night. Her innocence was long gone and she had a constant reminder with the soreness she constantly felt between her legs. Dudley was allowed to help punish her now in exchange for not telling Aunt Petunia so she had bruises from both guys and her cousin would leave the room to go to bed right before Uncle Vernon would rape her. She could barely move but she forced herself to, to make it seem like she was ok. She hadn't eaten or seen Cedric in over a week and he hadn't stopped by her house either, or if he had she didn't know. She was forced to do a lot of chores each day and if someone came near the door, no matter whom she was forced to go upstairs so no one could see her.

She was no longer allowed outside unless it was in the back yard to mow the lawn; she couldn't even work in the garden. Her uncle made sure her life was even more of a hell hole now and she almost regretted beating up Dudley, almost. This morning was Saturday and she was now torturing herself more by smelling the food as she cooked it, her aunt had decided to make her favorite breakfast again, pancakes, maple sausage, and bacon. The maple scent drifted towards her and seemed to have kissed her nose because it was all she could smell and she began thinking about how it tasted. When breakfast was made they all sat down and again she served her family and sat back, "Vernon she's looking sickly and is having problems keeping her energy up to do chores, today she is eating and there isn't anything you can say about it," her aunt said sternly before piling food on Claryssa's plate.

Claryssa dug right in and was amazed at how much better it tasted than she last remembered. After she ate one piece of bacon and sausage and one pancake she was cut off by her uncle and Dudley grabbing the rest. So she sat there still hungry but decided at least a little bit of food was better than none. After she helped with the plates she went upstairs and drank some more tea, it always helped settle her stomach. By this time all of her candy was gone so she threw the box away and read until afternoon tea. She had already finished her book she got from Cedric and had made a slight dent in the rest of the books she had gotten when she got her room. At half past 12 she walked downstairs to help with tea, she would be serving the cookies while her aunt served the tea.

Her uncle grabbed a cookie and started shoving his face just like Dudley and she thought to herself, '_What does Aunt Petunia see in this fat ass?_' Claryssa grimaced and then gave her aunt a cookie before taking one herself. "I fancy myself a fire, anyone else?" Uncle Vernon said and got strange looks from everyone, "Well at least I do," he said and then laughed as he left the room. When he came back there was a pile of at least 50 letters and he threw some in and started a fire. He looked at her gleefully and threw them in one by one, she watched in horror as her letters burned. When he was done he grabbed himself another cookie and just ate it laughing to himself. "I hate you," Claryssa muttered quietly as she walked out of the room to go read again.

That night she again was beaten to an inch of her life, she was surprised she was still alive. When they were done with her she slipped into unconsciousness, when she awoke it was 3:00 in the morning. She decided she was done with this no matter how much it would pain her to leave her aunt, she had to get out. She grabbed her bag and put The Witches, Black Beauty, and the book she was reading now, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe in her bag with her cup of tea and the picture of her parents and put it on with a protest of her cut and bruised shoulder. She crawled downstairs painfully and crawled to the front door, when she got to the door she lifted herself up to turn the handle and then walked out into the fresh air. She closed the door quietly behind her and crawled her way down the street, '_Where should I go?_' she thought to herself a little too late because there was no turning back.

She decided to go see Cedric and hoped he wouldn't be too angry with her for coming so late. She crawled her way down Magnolia Crescent and to his front door; she knocked on his front door and then lost her nerve. She began retreating when the door opened and Cedric was standing there, "Claryssa what are you doing here at 3:30 in the morning?" he asked, "I need to get out of my house, please help me," she pleaded. "Come inside quickly." He told her and watched her crawl towards him, "Why are you crawling?" he asked her concerned but his question was answered when she crawled into the light, he saw her cuts, lacerations, and bruises from her shirt that was barely staying on her body, it was so torn up. "Oh my God, what happened to you?" he said and helped pull her inside.

"Courtesy of my uncle," she said before tears began rolling down her cheeks, "That bastard!" he said angrily, this was the first time she saw him mad. "I'll go get my parents," he said while turning towards the stairs. "There's no need Ced, we're right here," Cecilia said with a look of horror on her face at Claryssa's condition. "I'll contact Dumbledore," Amos said and then took off towards their living room. Claryssa didn't know who this Dumbledore person was but at the moment she didn't care, she only knew that she was safe. Cedric took her bag from her and put it on the floor next to the chair he had sat her in. "We'll protect you Claryssa, Dumbledore will know what to do." He reassured her before she slipped back into unconsciousness.

"When she woke up she was in a large white room in a bed and there was white everywhere, the brightness of it hurt her eyes and she closed them again. "Are you awake Claryssa?" she heard a female voice say and she moaned to show she was. "I'll go get everyone then" the unknown voice said and Claryssa heard a door close. She lay there trying not to move and her breath was labored, '_With all this white, I must be in a hospital, I've never been to a hospital before_' she thought and then tried again to open her eyes, it was easier this time. She watched the door and watched Cedric and his family walk in with three unknown people, one was a nurse, with honey colored hair, honey colored eyes, and a beautiful smile, she had to have been the unknown female voice and she couldn't have been older than 30, one was a thin woman with brown eyes and her black hair in a tight bun probably in her mid 30's, and the other was a very tall and thin old man with golden half moon spectacles, twinkling blue eyes, and a beard and hair long enough to tuck into his belt.

"How are you feeling Claryssa?" the old man asked, "I've felt better," she said in a scratchy voice. "I imagine," he said with a kind smile, "Healer Honey can you get her some water please?" he asked the nurse who nodded and left to go get water. "You've given us quite a scare Claryssa," he said, "I'm sorry," she said confused on why they cared. "I am Professor Dumbledore and this is Professor McGonagall," he said pointing at the woman next to him. "Professor?" she asked, "Yes I am the Headmaster at the school Cedric attends and she is the Deputy Headmistress," he informed her. "Oh ok, and why did he call you when I came to his house?" she asked, "I have been trying to get a hold of you for the last few weeks." He said "But we will talk more about this later," he said as Healer Honey walked back in with the cup of water. She helped Claryssa sit up and Claryssa drank greedily, her throat was sore and scratchy.

"Claryssa, who did this to you?" Prof. McGonagall asked her urgently, "My uncle and my cousin Dudley but mostly my uncle," she said sadly. "Your own family did this?" she asked shocked, "I don't consider them family, just people who made my life hell!" she said. "We are lucky you got out when you did, you could've died." Dumbledore said, "I know but I didn't leave because I thought my uncle would turn on my aunt but then I just couldn't handle it anymore, I was near my breaking point. I finally left to save my own life," she said. "We are glad you did," Cedric said, "You've become a very close friend, I would've hated to lose you so soon," he told her truthfully. "I'm sorry I haven't seen you in so long, my uncle forbade me from leaving the house and I had to do loads of chores everyday," she told him, "You've become a close friend for me as well," she said. "I figured you couldn't leave your house, I stopped by a couple of times and I was told you weren't available." He said, "Yeah well I am now, or are you guys sending me back to them?" she asked suddenly scared.

"We will not be sending you back but we must ask you something," Dumbledore said, "Anything," she said, "Will you testify against your uncle in court so he can be properly punished?" he asked. "Yes I will," she said determinately. "That would be good for your case; we also had Cecilia take pictures of your injuries while you were unconscious to better your chance of winning." He told her, "There aren't any of inappropriate pictures are there?" she asked, "No there aren't any of your breasts or vagina," Cecilia answered. "Alright good," Claryssa said embarrassed. "Prof. McGonagall and I will leave now so you can talk with them or rest, we will talk later." Dumbledore said and they left, "Claryssa they took x-rays of your body to find any injuries and all of your ribs are broken, you have internal bleeding, and there was something else that shocked them…" Cecilia said "Ok what is it?" Claryssa asked cautiously, "There is extreme tearing in your vaginal area; it's as if you've been raped many times, is this true?" Cecilia asked.

Claryssa paled and looked at Cedric; she hadn't wanted him to know that bit about the abuse. "Claryssa is it true or not?" Amos asked urgently, Claryssa just nodded her head and looked down ashamed. "How many times?" Cedric asked, "I lost count at 10," Claryssa said quietly, "Oh my god and was it your uncle?" Cedric asked, again Claryssa could only nod. "That sick bastard, why'd he do that?" Amos said, "I wore a really cute outfit one day and I have table manners like a girl should and he and my cousin eat like pigs, he said me looking and acting all grown up tickled his fancy," she explained disgustedly. "What about all the other times?" Cecilia asked, "Do I have to answer that?" Claryssa asked sadly, "You don't have to but we are trying to find out everything we can to help out in your case," Amos said.

"The rest of the times were because I had a friend, he used Cedric against me to get me to do it, he told me he'd kill Cedric if I didn't cooperate and everyday I went and saw Cedric he would rape me." She told them, "Why did you keep coming to see me then?" Cedric asked sadly, "I found your presence calming and I could be normal for a few hours a day, you made me feel better," Claryssa confided and began to cry. "I can't believe I'm the reason he did that to you, if you don't want me around I'll stay away," he told her, "No! I want you around please don't go away, you're my only friend," she cried. "Alright then I'll stay your friend," he told her and she sighed in relief. "Claryssa, you look a bit peaky we'll have Healer Honey come give you some pain potion," Cecilia said and then left to go find the nurse. '_Pain potion? Where am I?_' she thought to herself, "Cedric can you please stay with me tonight? I haven't seen you in a long time and I need a relaxing evening." She asked, "Dad can I stay with her?" Cedric asked, "Yes you can my boy," Amos said and Cedric smiled his thanks.

"Healer Honey will be in, in a few minutes Claryssa," Cecilia said as she reentered the room. "Thank you Cecilia," Claryssa said and waited impatiently for the nurse, she was starting to feel everything again. Healer Honey came in with a flask of purple liquid, "Here you go dear, make sure you drink it all," she said as she helped Claryssa sit up. "This won't taste the greatest but make sure you drink it all, that's very important," Healer Honey said, "Alright," Claryssa said and then chugged it down until the last drop was gone. "That tasted like grape cough syrup," Claryssa said with a shrug of her shoulder. "Cough syrup?" Healer Honey asked, "Yeah children drink it when they have a cough or a cold." Claryssa said confused on why a nurse wouldn't know that, "Oh ok then," Healer Honey said as if she understood then walked out of the room. "We must be going for the evening Claryssa, We'll see you tomorrow," Cecilia said and her and Amos walked out the door, leaving her and Cedric alone.

"Why didn't you tell me before that you were being raped and abused?" Cedric asked, "I thought you wouldn't like me anymore because I was no longer pure," Claryssa answered sadly. "Of course I'd still like you; I would've helped you sooner if you'd told me," he told her. "I just couldn't, I was afraid he'd find out and hurt you," she said as she began crying again. "Claryssa he can't hurt us anymore," he told her hugging her to him, she cried into his shoulder for 5 minutes before she could calm down. "I'm sorry I'm causing you problems Cedric," she told him, "I shouldn't have asked you to stay, I already deprived you of one night's sleep," she said. "Actually Claryssa you were unconscious for 3 days," he told her, "Oh great so I've deprived you of 4 nights' sleep," she said sounding upset at herself. "I've slept Claryssa don't worry, only one person can stay a night, and this is the first time I've stayed, the first night it was Dumbledore, the second night it was McGonagall, the third night it was my mother" he informed her.

"Oh ok," she said, "Where's my bag?" she suddenly remembered she didn't have it on her shoulder. "It's right here," he said as he pulled it off the floor, "When they came to bring you here in your unconsciousness grabbed it so you could bring it with, you wouldn't let it go until you were here when I grabbed it and told you I was just putting it on the floor," he told her. "Wow I guess this bag is just very special to me," she said with a slight laugh. "I hope you don't mind McGonagall washed it for you to get off the blood and skin cells," he told her, "No I don't mind, I'll have to thank her when I see her next," Claryssa said. "I have both your present and Black Beauty in here with the book I'm reading now, I think I want to read a bit," she said slurring her words. "Claryssa you should probably get some sleep, tomorrow's a special day for you," he said with a laugh and Claryssa couldn't think of why it'd be special but she nodded her agreement and snuggled down into the blankets. Cedric brushed his fingers through her hair slowly as she began to fall into unconsciousness finally safe and comfortable.

Claryssa had a dreamless night, much to her happiness because she was quite tired of her repetitive nightmares, not only did her uncle punish her when she was awake, he punished her when she was asleep as well. Claryssa woke up only to scream in pain, pain was pulsing through her body particularly in her abdominal area. "Claryssa are you alright?!" Cedric asked being roused from sleep by her scream. "No I need the Healer now!" she screamed. Cedric grabbed the control on the wall and yelled, "Healer Honey, Claryssa needs you, bring more pain potion!" A few minutes later Healer Honey burst in with a few flasks of liquids, "Help me sit her up!" Healer Honey ordered and Cedric grabbed Claryssa and sat her up. "Claryssa drink every drop of these potions," Healer Honey said and began with the purple pain potion, after words she was given a yellow potion that tasted strangely like lemons and a dark blue potion that tasted like blueberries. Claryssa coughed a little after drinking so quickly and then Cedric placed her back down on her pillows. "What did you give me?" Claryssa asked, "The yellow one is to soothe the internal bleeding, soak up some of the blood, and try to help it heal, while the blue is supposed to tell us of your progress while trying to help soothe your wounds," Healer Honey explained.

"Your internal bleeding is right in your abdominal area, which is what pained you just now, I fell asleep and forgot to administer your second dose of pain potion before this happened, please forgive me but I haven't slept much in the last couple of days, I've been afraid your condition would worsen," Healer Honey said. "I'm sorry I've been such a problem then," Claryssa said sadly, "No, no child do not worry or fret, it is my job." Healer Honey said with a smile, "If you say so," Claryssa said. "I do, now according to the x-ray potion, the blue one, your internal bleeding has lessened very slightly, most of your cuts and lacerations are mostly healed, and your ribs are slowly piecing back together but they will be weak for quite some time after they are fully healed," Healer Honey said. "Any good news?" Claryssa asked, "Well yes after as much abuse your lungs have received it would've been a high chance that you have asthma but I caught it in a very early stage and got rid of it before it had the chance to flourish, so you won't have asthma and I managed to heal your lungs completely so there are no longer any puncture marks," Healer Honey informed her. "Well I guess that is good news," Claryssa said.

"Well if you are in need of anymore assistance please call me on the controller, I'm going to go rest," Healer Honey said and then walked out the door. "Are you alright now Claryssa?" Cedric asked, "I'm fine, that pain potion works wonders," she said. "Alright that's good," he said. "What time is it?" she asked, "It's a quarter to 6," he told her, "When is everyone supposed to come back?" Claryssa asked, "About 7," he told her. "Alright well I'm too awake now, can you pass me my book in my bag?" she asked, "Certainly," he said and then passed her The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. "I finished your present about a week ago," she told him, "And how did you like it?" he asked, "I loved it," she answered with a smile and then began reading. Cedric pulled out a book and began to read as well and that's how everyone found them when they walked in, both peacefully reading.

"How was your evening Claryssa?" Dumbledore asked, "It was fine until I woke up in pain," she said with a shrug of her shoulders, "I see do you have any questions for us?" Dumbledore asked. "I have loads of questions, am I allowed to ask them?" she asked, "Yes you are," he told her. "I wasn't allowed to ask many questions at the Dursleys, that's why I asked," she said answering the unspoken question on the Diggorys faces. "First off where am I?" she asked, "St. Mungos Hospital," Dumbledore answered, "Ok why is everything called a potion here?" she asked, "This is a Hospital for witches and wizards, we use potions in the magical world," Dumbledore said and her jaw dropped. "I've always been taught there's no such thing as magic and your expecting me to believe there's real witches and wizards in this world?" she asked, "Yes, seeing as you are one," Dumbledore said with a smile.

"I'm a witch?" she asked not being able to believe it, "Yes, everyone in this room is a witch or wizard as well," McGonagall said, "Prove it," Claryssa said, "If you wish, Dumbledore said and they all pulled out a stick and said a word she had never heard before and a lot of different things happened at once, Cedric made a bouquet of lilies appear out of no where and handed them to her, Dumbledore made the table next to her set on fire, McGonagall made fireworks shoot out of her wand which Claryssa thought were pretty, Amos made an empty flask on the other table next to her do a tap dance, and Cecilia made shooting star rain down which Claryssa also thought was pretty. "Will I be able to do all of that stuff?" Claryssa asked grinning, "You'd have to be trained to do any of that stuff," McGonagall said, "And how would I be trained to do any of that?" Claryssa asked excitedly.

"By going to our school," Dumbledore said, "You mean you're the one who's been sending me all those letters?" Claryssa asked, "Yes, why weren't you getting them?" McGonagall asked, "I thought it'd be obvious by now, my uncle would destroy them before I could read them," she said darkly. "Well you will no longer have anything hidden from you," Dumbledore said, "And with that I present you with your letter," he added and then handed her a letter. Claryssa read it, it told her she'd been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and that term would start on September 1 and gave her a list of what she'd need. "What does it mean by we await your owl?" she asked, "In the Magical world we send messages by owls much like the postman in the Muggle world," Amos explained, "Muggle?" she asked, "Muggles are what we call non-magic people like your family," Cecilia answered. "I have another question, when my parents died who sent me to live there?" she asked, "It was I who sent you," Dumbledore said sadly, "Why did you send me there?" she asked, "I thought it would be best for you to be away from the magical world, to have a normal childhood, I was hoping they'd treat you like their own but I see that was not the case," he told her sadly.

"My aunt was nice to me when the guys weren't around, she was slightly like a mother but not close enough." Claryssa said, "She'd be mean to me like them when they were around though, and my cousin Dudley chased everyone away from me so I wouldn't have friends my whole life, so I'm not sure how normal you'd consider that," she said angrily. "I am sorry for the hurt you've gone through Claryssa, I will make sure you are safe from now on," he told her. "I'll hold you to that," she told him, "You do that," he told her, "Do you have anymore questions?" he asked, "Yeah where am I going to buy all this stuff and with what money?" she asked pointing at her letter, "We will take you when you are released tomorrow to go shopping and your parents left you their money so you will have money," Dumbledore told her. "Ok and another question, Where will I be staying now?" she asked concerned, "You will be staying at Hogwarts after we find you a suitable guardian," he told her. "I want to have a female guardian," she told them, "That is understandable and we will take that into account when choosing," he said. "Good" she said, and then Healer Honey came in with more purple and yellow potions and with a couple of other healing potions, one red to replace all the lost blood that tasted like cherry and a green one to help heal her cuts, lacerations, bruises, and broken ribs which tasted like green apple. "Someone lift her up," she said and Cedric lifted her up since he was closest, she drank all the potions and then got comfortable again on the pillows.

"I told you today would be special for you, you finally got your letter and learned who you truly are,"' Cedric said with a smile to her, "You were right," she said with a returning smile. "I need sleep," she said as all the potions took their effect. "Everyone out but one to watch over her," Healer Honey said and McGonagall said, "I'll stay with her this time." "Very well Minerva, come get us when she wakes up," Dumbledore said, "I will Albus," she said and then sat down next to Claryssa. "Is Minerva your first name?" Claryssa asked, "Yes it is," McGonagall answered back, "That's a pretty name," Claryssa said slurring her words, "Thank you, so is Claryssa," she said, "Your welcome and thank you too,' Claryssa said before slipping away into a deep sleep.

When she woke up she couldn't open her eyes yet so she lay there still pretending to sleep, "Albus what are we going to do with her?" McGonagall asked, "I'm not sure, I have a few females lined up for guardians Prof. Trelawney but I don't think that's the greatest idea, she'd probably predict her death everyday and give the poor girl a complex, thinking she'll die at any moment. I also thought of Madam Pomfrey but she isn't as young as she once was and she has big responsibilities so it may be a bit trying for her to mother a child. There's Prof. Sprout who also isn't as young as she once was but could probably handle it better. My last choice is you, you're the youngest and the most logical but you will one day have the responsibility of running this school so I'm at a bit of a loss right now on who to choose." Dumbledore said. "When do you need a guardian for her by?" McGonagall asked, "The Ministry said they need her to have a guardian chosen by the beginning of term," Dumbledore said, "Well that's a month away, what will we do with her until then?" McGonagall asked, "We might send her to stay at the Diggorys but that's very close to her old home so she may have worse problems there," Dumbledore said.

"I agree we will probably have to keep her at Hogwarts until we figure it out." McGonagall said. "That would probably be best," Dumbledore agreed. "Who are all those people you have lined up as my possible guardians?" Claryssa asked no longer able to pretend to sleep or keep her eyes or mouth shut. "Good evening Claryssa, how did you sleep?" Dumbledore asked, "I slept well thank you," she said with a smile. "As for your question," McGonagall said, "Prof. Trelawney is our Divination teacher, which is a class you'll start in you 3rd year and it deals with telling the future so to speak," she continued. "Madam Pomfrey is our school nurse, so she'll take care of you if you're ever injured or sick," Dumbledore explained. "Prof. Sprout is our Herbology teacher, which is a class similar to gardening in the Muggle world but much more," McGonagall explained. "And you already know Prof. McGonagall, she is the Transfiguration teacher which is a class in which you transfigure one object into another, Dumbledore explained pointing at Minerva. "Herbology sounds interesting, my aunt and I have a garden at home…well my old home," Claryssa said.

"Do you still care for your aunt?" Dumbledore asked, "Of course, she's been very kind to me all my life." Claryssa said confused on where this subject was going, "We will be able to arrange for you two to meet up every now and then so you guys can keep in contact," Dumbledore said and Claryssa's face lit up. "Could you really? I'd love to stay in contact with her," Claryssa said excitedly. "Yes we could and we will," Dumbledore said with a chuckle. "That would be lovely, but my uncle and cousin won't come will they?" she asked, "No they will not be allowed to come, I will set this all up so the only time you will ever have to see your uncle and cousin again will be when we charge them in court," Dumbledore reassured her. "That's good," Claryssa said, "When will that be?" Claryssa asked, "There is no set date as of yet but the Aurors have taken them into custody and will be holding them until the court date," Dumbledore told her. "What are Aurors?" Claryssa asked, "Aurors are close to the detectives in the Muggle world, they are ministry officials that catch dark wizards and uphold the law," McGonagall answered.

"Wow, so we're like our own world inside a world?" Claryssa asked, "Something like that yes," McGonagall answered with a smirk. "That's wicked!" Claryssa said with a grin causing both adults to chuckle. "Can I see the Diggorys or did they go home?" Claryssa asked, "We told them to go home and be a family and to rest," Dumbledore said, "Oh ok, so when will they be back?" Claryssa asked. "You are being released tomorrow morning unless something happens so they won't be back but you will see them again," Dumbledore said with a smile. "As long as I see them again, I will be happy," Claryssa said. "Healer Honey came in and asked if you needed something while you were sleeping and we told her we'd call her when you woke up, so is there anything you need?" McGonagall asked, "Um I'm not sure," Claryssa said before her stomach growled, "Ok I guess I want food," Claryssa said with a small laugh. "Alright food it is," McGonagall said with another small laugh, "Healer Honey Claryssa is awake and has requested you bring her some food," she said into the controller and Claryssa said, "Thank you," "Your welcome," McGonagall said.

A few minutes later Healer Honey walked in with a large plate of lasagna, a garlic breadstick and a small salad. "Would you like any parmesan with this?" she asked Claryssa and Claryssa nodded her head, "Yes please I love cheese." Healer Honey put in freshly shredded parmesan cheese until Claryssa thanked her and she began eating her food rather greedily. "Can I have a glass of grape juice?" she asked after her first couple of bites. "Sure dear," Healer Honey said and then made a glass of juice appear out of thin air. "Thank you," Claryssa said and then took a large drink. "Did they starve you at your old home too?" Healer Honey asked noticing how fast she was eating, "Yes ma'am," Claryssa said sadly as she dipped her breadstick in the lasagna sauce. "You poor child, you've seen so much in your young years, you deserve a childhood, I hope your next guardian allows you to be a child," Healer Honey said before refilling Claryssa's juice cup. "Thank you, so do I," Claryssa said with a smile and then finished her breadstick.

A few minutes later her plate was completely empty and she chugged down the rest of her juice and then wiped her mouth carefully before sitting back on her pillows to rest, happy she finally was able to eat. "How do you feel Claryssa?" Healer Honey asked her, "I feel fine thank you," Claryssa said before yawning happily. "Are you tired again?" Dumbledore asked, "No I'm just full for the first time in a month, I tend to yawn more when I'm full," she explained. "Yes as do I, as do most people in fact," he told her smiling. "Are you having any pains?" Healer Honey asked, "Well my abdominal area is stinging a bit but other than that I'm good," Claryssa told her, "That's good, I'll be back in a few minutes with your potions to ensure you heal completely," she told Claryssa and Claryssa just nodded happily.

When Healer Honey came back Claryssa sat up on her own and drank the yellow, the red, the green, and the blue potions until every drop was gone and waited patiently for Healer Honey to tell her of her condition. "Well it seems your ribs have pieced back together completely but are still fragile so be careful for the next couple of months so they don't break again. Your bruises are gone and your cuts and lacerations are nothing but scars now, your internal bleeding isn't healed yet so you'll need to take this potion for a week after you leave and then they will heal," she told Claryssa pointing at the yellow potion. "Unfortunately I cannot do anything about your torn tissue in between your legs, just take pain potion until it heals, which may take awhile seeing the severity of the tearing but good news is that last red potion replaced all of your blood you lost so you won't be feeling dizzy or lightheaded anymore," Healer Honey said, "That is good news," Claryssa said with a smile.

"Now if you need me during the night just call me on the controller but I'm sure tonight you will be fine, I'll be back in, in a couple of hours to give you your pain potion and then you're ready to go for tomorrow," she said happily and then walked out leaving Claryssa Dumbledore and McGonagall alone. "Can I read until it's time to sleep?" Claryssa asked, "Of course McGonagall said passing her The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. "We will be here if you need us," Dumbledore said with a smile and they both sat down in the corner watching her. After an hour and a half Claryssa finished her book and then placed it back in her bag. "By chance can we get my other books and belongings from my house tomorrow? I left almost everything behind," Claryssa asked, "We can arrange that yes," Dumbledore said making her smile. "Thank you so much for your kindness," she said and he nodded his head smiling again.

Claryssa spent the rest of her waiting time doodling on her unused napkin, she drew lilies, she drew hearts and stars, and she drew a picture of Cedric with bubble letters that said Friendship underneath. By the time she was done the picture of Cedric was in the middle with the word friendship underneath, a square border of lilies, and hearts and stars filling in the empty spaces. "That's a nice drawing," McGonagall said with a smile and Dumbledore nodded his agreement also smiling. "Thank you," Claryssa said before putting it in the cover of Cedric's present and then put her bag back on the ground. Healer Honey came in and gave Claryssa the potion, Claryssa drank it all and then snuggled into her pillows and blankets and fell into a deep and comfortable sleep.


	6. Ch 6 Diagon Alley and a Birthday Party

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, I dearly appreciate it! Oh and virtual cookies to zoey zink she was the only one to actually guess who I was making Claryssa's guardian but njferrell was on the right track but he guessed the right person and added somebody else so virtual cookies to him too. Claryssa's getting a new guardian is going to be in the next chapter so you will all have to wait to figure out who it is lol. Anyways onto Chapter 6…

Chapter 6: Diagon Alley and a Birthday Party.

When Claryssa woke up she opened her eyes to find both Dumbledore and McGonagall standing at the end of her bed smiling. "Good morning Claryssa and happy birthday," Dumbledore said cheerily, "It's my birthday?!" Claryssa said shocked, she had forgotten all about it because of all of her mishaps the last couple of weeks. "Yes it is, your 11th birthday, what a special birthday that is," Dumbledore said grinning. "Awesome, so when can I get out of here?" Claryssa asked excitedly, "After Healer Honey comes in and clears you,' McGonagall said happily before turning to the controller and saying, "Healer Honey Claryssa is awake and wishes to leave."

When Healer Honey walked in she had a glass of water, a flask of both the yellow and purple potions and a basket of medicines. Claryssa drank the water and two potions gladly and then thanked the nurse one more time, "Thank you for everything Healer Honey!" "You are most welcome dear, do be careful," she said kindly and then handed the basket to Dumbledore, "That holds 2 flasks of both the yellow internal bleeding healing potion and the purple pain potion, that should be enough for today," Healer Honey said and then cleared them to leave.

When they were outside Claryssa looked around and noticed she was in the middle of a street that had closed down all of its stores and hadn't been used in quite some time. "What a weird place to put a magic hospital in," she commented and then followed the two adults down the street. "Well it had to be in a place where the Muggles wouldn't find it so we put it underground as well as our ministry," Dumbledore told her. "Ah I see so we're all about secrecy?" she asked, "Yes we must remain a secret, don't ever tell any Muggle about us," McGonagall said. "Why not?" Claryssa asked, "They would fear us, humans are afraid of power we have powers that they do not and they might try to start killing us off like the Salem Witch Trials or any Witch Hunting done you've ever heard of. We were hunted severely so we made ourselves secrets so we can live and flourish without the Muggles knowing it." Dumbledore explained. "Oh I see," Claryssa said as they walked out onto a busy street in London. "So where will we go and buy all of this stuff?" Claryssa asked, "A place that's hidden from the Muggles, it is filled with wizardry shops," McGonagall said as they continued walking. "Sounds cool to me," Claryssa said happily.

After they had been walking for about half an hour they found an old run down pub that no one else could seem to see, it was called The Leaky Cauldron. "Why can't anyone else see it?" Claryssa asked, "It's hidden with magic so that only witches and wizards can see it," McGonagall explained quietly as they walked through the door. "Sweet," Claryssa said as she closed the door behind them. "Albus, Minerva what a pleasant surprise," the barkeeper said when he noticed them. "We have business today taking young Claryssa here to buy her school supplies Tom," Dumbledore said happily. "Bless my soul it's Claryssa Potter," Tom the barkeeper said with a smile. Everyone heard him and began shaking Claryssa's arm off saying "Welcome back Miss Potter" or "I can't believe I'm meeting the famous Claryssa Potter" Claryssa was shocked that everyone knew her name. Finally a man in a purple turban walked up to her and said, "M-Miss P-Potter, c-can't t-tell y-you h-how p-pleased I a-am t-to m-meet you," "This is Prof. Quirrell, he's the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts," Dumbledore explained, "Oh nice to meet you," Claryssa said with a smile. "Y-yes f-fascinating s-subject, n-not t-that y-you n-need i-it e-eh P-Potter?" Quirrell asked and then laughed nervously. "Yes well we must be off, we have a lot to buy," Dumbledore said happily and then led Claryssa out the back door.

"Why does everyone know my name?" Claryssa asked as soon as the door closed behind them. "You are famous Claryssa," Dumbledore said simply. "Why am I famous?" Claryssa asked confusedly, "You defeated the darkest wizard that ever lived when you were only a year old," Dumbledore explained, "How did I do that?" Claryssa asked with wide eyes. "Well that's the thing Claryssa, you are the only one to ever survive the killing curse, it somehow bounced off of you and hit him making him lose his body and his powers," McGonagall interjected. "Wow I did that as a baby? How did I do that?" she asked interested, "No one knows, it is a mystery still to this day, I have a theory but I am not positive if it is true or not," Dumbledore said, "Well what is it?" she asked greedy for more information, "I will save it for a day when I think you are ready" he said before ushering her forward closing the conversation for any further argument.

Claryssa observed her surroundings for the first time; they were in a back alley way with nothing but a brick wall in front of them. "I thought we were going to somewhere to buy my school supplies," she asked. "We are,' McGonagall said and then pointed towards the wall, Claryssa stepped right up to it and watched Dumbledore tap it with his wand in a specific way and she memorized it instantaneously. Before Claryssa's eyes the brick wall began to form an arch in the middle of the wall to grant them access to what was behind it. When Claryssa watched the last brick mold itself into an archway she got her first glimpse of the wizarding shopping place. "Welcome Claryssa to Diagon Alley!" McGonagall said happily as she watched Claryssa's eyes widen. "This place is totally wicked!" Claryssa said excitedly taking in every detail of the alley way.

There were so many things in the windows that Claryssa had never seen before, there were signs in the windows flashing their advertisements, there were many different products she had never heard of such as an Exploding Tea Cozy in the window at the joke shop, the sign said **Exploding Tea Cozies, to end every tea party with a bang**. Claryssa saw people reading magazines with headlines that she could've sworn kept switching around and pictures that she could've sworn were moving. Everything about this world was new and exciting to her, she was completely mesmerized. When they began walking up to a large white marble building it caught her full attention, "What's that?" Claryssa asked, "This is Gringotts Wizard Bank Claryssa, where we can get money for you to buy your school supplies," McGonagall explained. "How cool," Claryssa said as they walked up the steps to the large double doors.

When they walked inside there were two very long tables bordering the walkway on both sides, one on each side, filled with small very strange looking creatures. "What are those?" Claryssa whispered, "Those are Goblins Claryssa, very clever creatures but not the friendliest, you might want to stay close," Dumbledore said and she instantly stepped closer to him. When they got to the front desk Dumbledore cleared his throat and caught the Head Goblin's attention. "We'd like to withdraw money from Claryssa Potter's vault," she said and the Head Goblin looked over the counter down at Claryssa making her very uncomfortable, "And does Miss Potter have her key?" he said nastily, "I have it right here," Dumbledore said politely and handed the key to him. "Very well we will have a Goblin come take you to the vault," he said. "I have to collect something else, I need the parcel concealed in Vault 713," Dumbledore said quietly and the Goblin nodded his understanding.

While Claryssa was staring at them confusedly a goblin walked up behind her and she let out a small scream. "I'm sorry, you startled me," she said after she realized how rude that must've been and then backed away again towards Dumbledore. "I apologize for frightening you Miss Potter," he said with amusement in his voice before leading them through another set of double doors. The dark damp hallway made her shiver, it felt like she was stuck underground in a dungeon like in those princess stories she always heard about. "Right this way Claryssa," Dumbledore said pointing towards what looked like a coal cart that miners used. She stepped inside followed by Dumbledore, McGonagall, and the Goblin who apparently was named Griphook. When they were all inside the cart it zoomed off at a high speed through many corridors, Claryssa was enjoying it as was Dumbledore but McGonagall looked a wee bit queasy. When they finally stopped they all got out and Griphook unlocked her vault to reveal many piles of gold, silver, and bronze colored coins. She grabbed some of each color coin until her money bag was full and then they zipped off towards the next vault.

When they reached Vault 713 they were asked to step back and Griphook scratched one of his long fingernails down the door, making a sound almost as bad as nails on a chalkboard. The vault swung open to reveal on small grubby looking package in the middle of the vault, Dumbledore walked in and grabbed it and slipped it into his robes. We can be on our way now Dumbledore said happily and they all climbed back into the cart. When they reached the entryway again Claryssa was glad to be getting out of the dark, damp hallway back into the warmth. When they walked outside she smiled and span around, happy to see sunlight again.

"So what's first?" she asked happily, "Madame Malkin's Robes for all Occasions, to fit you for your school robes," Dumbledore said and then lead her in the right direction. When they walked in a plump witch ushered them inside and Claryssa was up on a stool next to a boy with a pale complexion, slicked back platinum blonde hair, a pointed face and nose, and cold silver eyes that reminded her of diamonds. They reminded her of diamonds because they were the color of diamonds, they were cold like a stone as was a diamond, and they had an interesting glint to them like a diamond. "Going to Hogwarts?" he asked her in a slow drawling voice that sounded bored, "Yes, how about you?" she asked politely. "Of course, I wanted to go to Durmstrang but my mother didn't want me to be that far away and my whole family has gone to Hogwarts for Centuries, probably since the beginning of Hogwarts," he said haughtily, "I see," she said not knowing what Durmstrang was. "Well do you know what house you will be in?" he asked, Um not yet," she said still not knowing what he was talking about, "I'll be in Slytherin just like my whole family has been," he said like he knew everything. She wasn't sure if she liked him much because of his cocky and all knowing attitude, "All right dear you're all done," the plump witch said to him and he jumped off the stool and walked up to the front desk to buy his robes and then the woman began measuring her. When she was done she went up and paid for her robes and then walked back outside to see Dumbledore and McGonagall talking quietly to each other outside the door.

"Where to next?" she asked showing them her new robes, "The apothecary for your potions ingredients," McGonagall said and then led her to the other side to the next shop where a sign was shimmering showing off advertisement for a new cauldron that was just created. When she walked into the store a wave of mixed scents brushed her nose, she smelt a spicy smell coming from a cauldron right next to the door, the liquid was a reddish orange color and reminded her of a fire she began seeing flames dancing in the surface and feeling the heat of a real fire and she was completely entranced. "That is an Everlasting Fire potion, it keeps you warm even if you are stuck in a blizzard," Dumbledore explained to her and she tore her eyes away from it to look at him, "That's really cool," she said and then moved on to the next cauldron. A sweet flowery scent drifted towards her, it reminded her of her aunt's and her garden at home with all the lilies and roses, the smell of rain reached her nose next mixing with the flowery scent, the next smell she couldn't place, she knew she had smelt it many times before but she could not place the scent but it was one of the most addicting scents to her and she was enthralled in the scents, it was a pink potion with beautiful swirls drifting upwards. "This is Amortentia, the strongest love potion in the world, it makes you smell things that draw you in," Dumbledore said before leading her away.

Claryssa was baffled about what that third scent was but quickly forgot as she got to the next cauldron, it was bright emerald green and it made her miss her parents more than she ever had and she could've sworn she saw a picture of them glinting on the surface, "That is the Draft of Desire, it makes you dream of what you desire most," Dumbledore told her and then caught her attention to begin shopping for her school supplies. She grabbed a standard size pewter and a cauldron, a scale, some flasks, and walked around grabbing all the ingredients she would need and a few extras just in case she decided to experiment or make something not in her school book. When she went up to the counter and paid for it he grabbed one of his own flasks and walked up to the Amortentia, filled up his flask and handed it to her. "A gift for your 11th birthday Miss Claryssa Potter," he said and bowed her out of the shop. She put it in her pocket and then walked towards the book shop she saw a little bit down the way.

She walked up to the door and saw it was called Flourish and Blotts, she walked in and began collecting her books she'd be needing and a few more on Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, Defense against the Dark Arts, and Charms, she doubted she'd be needing another book on History of Magic, it sounded boring. When she went up to the counter to buy her books she noticed Dumbledore already there buying a few books. These are excellent reading books to learn about the magic world he said holding up the already wrapped parcel and then put them in his robes. "What are they?" Claryssa asked, "You will find out later," he said with a smile and then stepped aside to allow her to buy her books. When they left she had everything she needed but a wand and she followed them to Ollivander's.

When she was about to go inside McGonagall stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, "We will be back Claryssa, we have something else to pick up and we'll be back before you know it," she said with a smile and then they walked off and Claryssa entered the slightly dark shop. Claryssa was almost to the desk when she said, "Hello is anyone here?" She walked up to the desk and the jumped when a ladder came sliding into her view with a loud bang in the tiny shop. "I was wondering when I'd be seeing you Miss Potter," the old man said from atop the ladder with a smile. "It seems only yesterday your mother and father were in here buying their first wands, very clever and sweet Lily and confident and very proud James, a most wonderful witch and wizard, their fate was horrible but their story will forever live on, as will yours Miss Potter," he said with a sad smile. "You knew my parents?" Claryssa asked, "Of course, everyone knew the Potters even before their untimely deaths but alas this is not the time to be sharing sad stories. It is a happy occasion, you are here to buy your first wand, what a wonderful day for you so let's begin," he said smiling.

He climbed down the ladder and grabbed a box from the rows of them on the shelf, "Dragonheart string, 13 inches, and oak," he said and then pulled a wand out of the box and handed it to her. She grabbed it and just stared at him, "Well give it a wave," he said and she waved it only to see his vase explode into many pieces. "Not that one," he said and then grabbed it and put it back in the box. He went and grabbed another one, "Unicorn hair, 11 inches, and willow" he said before handing it to her, she waved it and boxes flew off the shelves. "Nope, no definitely not," he said and went to grab another wand, "Phoenix feather, 8 ¾ inches, and redwood" he said when she waved it a red spark came out and he began to smile until the spark shot upwards and made a hole in the ceiling. "Apparently not," he said before going to grab another wand, he grabbed another box walked over to her and said, "Unicorn hair, 12 inches, and rosewood" she grabbed it and waved it and pink sparkles came out and ate a hole about the size of quarter in his desk and again he took it back to look for another wand. He walked to a shelf and carefully grabbed a box, "I wonder," he said to himself but loud enough for Claryssa to hear. He walked over to her slowly with the box and placed it on the desk, "phoenix feather, 10 inches, and holly" he told her and placed it in her anticipating hand.

The most wonderful thing happened when she closed her hand on it, a warm sensation started at her fingertips and rose until her whole arm felt it, a non existent wind kicked up and fluttered her hair lightly and when she waved it purple and pink sparks flew out of the tip and dropped to the floor like confetti. Claryssa began smiling a big grin, happy to finally have her very own wand until she heard Ollivander say "Curious, very curious," "I'm sorry sir but what's curious?" she asked. Ollivander took her wand and placed it back in the box before saying, "I remember every wand I've ever sold Claryssa, the phoenix whose tail feather resides in your wand gave another feather, just one other, it's curious that you are destined for this wand when its brother gave you that scar," he said with an eerie tone. "And who owned that wand?" she asked, "We call him He who must not be named, witches and wizards alike still fear him and his name still to this day but it is sure that you will do great things Claryssa Potter, after all he who must not be named did great things, horrible things but great," he said. She paid for her wand and walked out of the shop door thinking of what Mr. Ollivander had said. "Claryssa over here," McGonagall said snapping Claryssa out of her musing, she looked up and saw Dumbledore and McGonagall sitting over at an ice- cream parlor nearby and she made her way over to them. "The errand you needed to run was to get ice-cream?" she asked with a laugh and a roll of her eyes, "No Claryssa it was not," Dumbledore said with a grin. "What we needed to pick up was this," he said pointing with his hand at the table behind them.

For the first time Claryssa noticed a cage behind them with intricate designs, inside the cage was a beautiful snowy owl with amber eyes, she fell in love with it instantly. "She's gorgeous, is she for me?" Claryssa asked happily. "She is, happy birthday Claryssa," Dumbledore said happily with a twinkle in his eyes, "Yes happy birthday Claryssa," McGonagall said smiling. "Thank you so much!" Claryssa said grinning widely before she gave them both a hug, "You're welcome," they chorused together with a smile. "Well I'm all done shopping for school supplies, what now?" Claryssa asked, "Well I'd say let's get some ice-cream but we have some place to be," Dumbledore said as he got up. "Oh where do you guys have to go and where will I go?" Claryssa asked thinking they were abandoning her.

"We are all going to the Diggorys for dinner tonight but before we do, we are getting you all dressed up and pretty for your birthday," McGonagall said with a smile. "You'd do that for me?" Claryssa asked stunned, "No one's ever wanted to dress me up and make me pretty for my birthday," Claryssa added, "Well that's all going to change," McGonagall said and they began walking back towards The Leaky Cauldron. Dumbledore and McGonagall grabbed her school supplies so that Claryssa could carry her new owl, who she had decided to name Hedwig, and they made their way into the cozy inn. This is when Claryssa needed her first does of pain potion and the yellow potion since this morning because pain was beginning to flair up quickly.

"Where are we going to do all of this?" she asked them after the pain dissipated, "There is a place near by that has dresses and a place next to it that does hair and makeup," McGonagall said as they began walking down the street outside of The Leaky Cauldron. "Ok cool," Claryssa said and continued following them down the street. When they got to the dress shop Dumbledore said, "I must be going, I have a few things to take care of before dinner, I will meet you there, Claryssa have fun," and then he grabbed the rest of Claryssa's stuff and her owl and walked off just to disappear at the end of the street. "Come on Claryssa we have some more shopping to do," McGonagall said and opened the door for her. Claryssa walked in and gasped at all the pretty dresses, "There's so many pretty dresses, which ones am I allowed to look at?" she asked and McGonagall said, "You can look at all of them and pick your favorites," "Are you sure?" she asked, "Of course Claryssa," McGonagall said and pointed Claryssa to the first rack of dresses.

Claryssa searched through all of the dresses and found 10 dresses she loved, she tried them on and got McGonagall's opinion on them all. The first was a spaghetti strapped dress, it was red with black flowery lace over top, it was form fitting and hugged her small curves, and it even made her small breasts look a little bigger. She thought it was gorgeous especially if she could curl her hair with it and McGonagall gave her an approving smile. The second was an elegant floor length spaghetti strapped blue and purple iridescent dress that shimmered whenever she walked, she liked it but knew it wasn't the dress for her, McGonagall told her, "It's beautiful but it makes you look shorter than you are because of its length and amount of material," This was true so Claryssa moved onto the third dress. It was a thick strapped lilac colored silk dress with white lace over the chest part; it went to about mid calf and contrasted with her pale complexion beautifully. Claryssa loved it but wanted to try on the other dresses as well McGonagall told her, "It looks divine on you and makes you look like a princess and the silk is very flattering to your lithe body." Claryssa put this dress in the maybe pile with the red and black laced dress while the blue and purple iridescent dress was in the no pile.

The fourth dress was a strapless black floor length dress that had intricate beading over the chest part, when the waist of the dress started the black was replaced with a white triangular panel and the intricate beading bordered the white coloring all the way to the bottom, it hugged her body nicely and gave her nicer curves. Claryssa liked it and McGonagall said, "It makes you look curvier and elegant because of the beading, it's very beautiful," this dress went into the maybe pile. The fifth dress was a knee length black halter top dress, it was very simple and it bunched up a little at the chest area for a simple design, it looked nice on Claryssa but she didn't like it as much as the other three dresses. McGonagall said, "It's nice but not as beautiful as the red or lilac dresses," so Claryssa put it in the no pile with the blue and purple iridescent dress. The sixth dress was another simple black dress; it was of a flowy soft material and went down to right above her knees and it was spaghetti strapped. Claryssa loved the material but didn't like the way it looked on her and McGonagall was in agreement with her so this dress went into the no pile.

The seventh dress was a strapless white knee length dress the top was of a polyester material while the bottom was made of the same material as a ballerina's tutu. Claryssa thought it looked better on the hanger than it did on her because she didn't like how scratchy the tutu material was McGonagall said, "It looks cute but it isn't as cute as the others," so it went in the no pile. The eighth dress was a thick strapped golden yellow colored mid calf length silk dress that hugged her curves and made it seem like her pale skin was glowing against the golden color. Claryssa liked it a lot and McGonagall told her, "This one and the lilac were quite beautiful contrasts to your skin, I like them the best," that dress went into the maybe pile. The ninth dress was a floor length emerald green dress with straps that are off the shoulder, the dress had a sheer lighter green overlay that had small sparkles. Claryssa loved the dress because it made her look more grown up and beautiful, McGonagall said, "That dress is stunning on you, I love it," Claryssa put it in the maybe pile and moved onto the last and final dress. The tenth dress was a bubble gum pink colored thick strapped velvet dress that hugged her body beautifully, it ended right above her ankles so it wasn't floor length but it was longer than mid calf. Claryssa liked it but decided that she liked the other 5 dresses in the maybe pile better McGonagall told her, "It does look quite beautiful on you but I also like the other 5 dresses better."

So Claryssa put it in the no pile so she had 5 that were a no and 5 that were a maybe, she tried on all 5 of the dresses again and couldn't choose between the silk lilac dress and the emerald green dress so they ended up buying both with McGonagall's muggle money that she had gotten. Claryssa decided she would where the silk lilac dress tonight and save the green one for another time. Next they did her hair and make up, her hair was curled in soft small but long ringlets and they bought Claryssa a foundation to match her skin, black eyeliner, black mascara, and a pack of 5 different eye shadows and then the lady at the store used her make up on her. The lady used a light blue and light purple eye shadow and blended them so her eyes looked stunning and the make up made her eyes pop nicely to make them more noticeable. Claryssa loved the way she looked and McGonagall did as well she said, "You look beautiful, you almost remind me of your mother with your make up done like that, she used to use blue and purple on her eyes as well," "Thank you so much," Claryssa said happily before going and getting dressed in her silk lilac dress in the bathroom.

When she came out McGonagall and the lady who did her hair and makeup gasped at her beauty making Claryssa blush a bright pink. When they were out on the street she realized that everyone was staring at her making her blush more, "Come this way and we'll get you to Cedric's," McGonagall said and led her towards an alleyway. "Um professor, Cedric doesn't live in an alleyway," Claryssa said confused, "I know he doesn't but we need to get there quickly and the only way to get there quickly is by magic and I don't want the muggles to see," McGonagall said. "Oh ok, what kind of magic are we going to be using?" Claryssa asked excitedly, "It is called apparition, it's where you can disappear from one place and appear at another after a few seconds. Since you have not learned it yet and you won't learn it until you are 16, you will do what is called side along apparition where you hold onto me and we apparate together," McGonagall explained. "That sounds really cool," Claryssa said with a smile before grabbing a hold of McGonagall's arm, "It is but hold on tight ok?" McGonagall said, "Ok," Claryssa said and tightened her grip.

They span around and the alleyway disappeared instead Claryssa felt like she was getting squeezed through a tube and then just as suddenly she could breathe properly again and they were at the end of Magnolia Crescent behind some bushes so they were blocked from view. They carefully moved out from behind the bushes and made their way swiftly towards Cedric's house, the sun was setting behind the top of the houses when they reached his door. McGonagall knocked and the door opened by itself, "Come on Claryssa lets go," McGonagall said and they walked into the door. "Is anyone here?" Claryssa said out loud as she put her lily bag and clothes bags down by the door, "In the living room dear," Claryssa heard Cecilia's voice say and they made their way towards the living room.

Claryssa realized she had to use the restroom and let McGonagall know, "I have to use the restroom I'll be there in a couple of minutes," "Alright dear," she said. "I'm going to use the restroom really quick ok?" Claryssa said in Cecilia's direction before heading upstairs and into the bathroom, she heard McGonagall go into the living room and say something quietly but she couldn't hear what it was. After she used the restroom, she looked at the mirror and was shocked she had never been able to wear make up before and rather liked the idea of it, she loved how beautiful she looked and it made her smile. When she was done admiring herself she made her way downstairs towards the living room, when she got to the entryway she heard the word "SURPRISE!!!!" and was shocked to see all these people looking up at her smiling. "Happy Birthday Claryssa," Cedric said walking up to her with a smile, "You did this for me?" she asked slightly teary eyed. "Of course, we all planned it while you were at the Hospital," he told her with a smile. "Thank you so much all of you," she said smiling and he grabbed her hand and led her over to the crowd of people. "These are all Hogwarts staff members that decided to celebrate your birthday with you," he told her and began introducing her to everyone. Prof. Sprout was extremely interesting to Claryssa because of the subject she taught and Claryssa thought '_She'd make a good guardian, she's nice and we'd share an interest in gardening._'

Prof. Flitwick was the Charms teacher and she thought his subject would be fascinating, he also was very kind. Madame Hooch was the kind of woman you didn't want to cross, she was strict but she was still pretty nice she just put up a tough front so students would listen to her. Professor Snape was a very rude and strict teacher, he told her the only reason he was there was because Dumbledore told him to be. She somehow got into a conversation about Potions with him and she told him how she had bought extra ingredients in case she wanted to experiment and he told her, "If you aren't that big of a dunderhead then I will help you become better at Potions, so we will see how you fare in my class," he said and then turned away to end the conversation so she moved on. Prof. Sinistra was the astronomy teacher; she was interesting but kind of snippy when it came to the appreciation of her subject, she was really into Astronomy. Hagrid was the gamekeeper and keeper of the keys at Hogwarts and he was very nice even though he was so huge. That was all of her guests; it was a nice turn out though when you included the Diggorys, Dumbledore, and McGonagall.

She found out it was McGonagall's job to keep her busy long enough to get everything ready and Dumbledore left to help with decorations and such. Cedric had helped his mother cook all the food for the party and helped Dumbledore decorate and it was Amos' job to get the guests there in time. There was a large dinner and Claryssa realized she hadn't eaten since breakfast this morning so she was starving, she got some of everything and dug in, she ate until she was almost full just in case there was dessert. Everyone else had saved room for dessert as well and Claryssa was happy when Cecilia brought out a homemade white cake with white butter cream frosting beautifully decorated with purple lilies made of frosting, the borders were also purple frosting and the words Happy Birthday Claryssa were in Emerald green and the stems and leaves from the lilies were also emerald green. "It's beautiful Cecilia!" she said ecstatically looking at it and someone pulled out a camera and took a picture of the cake, they lit the 11 candles and sung happy birthday and then the same person took a picture of her blowing out her candles. Claryssa was served the corner piece and then everyone else got their piece and everyone was perfectly content.

Afterwards it was present time and Claryssa was shocked she had presents seeing as she hardly ever got presents at the Dursleys. Prof. Sprout got her a book called Fantastic and Rare Plants of the World and Prof. Flitwick got her a book called Simple Charms for the Charming Girl. Madame Hooch got her the book Quidditch Through the Ages and Prof. Snape got her a book by the name of Magic Potions for the Young Experimental Mind, with this Claryssa flashed him a smirk as if he already knew she'd want to experiment with potions and he returned it ever so slightly. Hagrid gave her the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Madame Sinistra gave her a book by the name of The Book of Modern Astronomy. Dumbledore gave her the books he had bought at Flourish and Blotts Hogwarts A History, Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century. McGonagall gave her The Tales of Beedle the Bard, so that she'd know about Wizard Fairy Tales. Cecilia gave her a gardening kit with the tools needed; a medium bag of fertilizer, a pack of 5 different seeds, and gardening book all in a white basket. Amos gave her a long black cloak with emerald green lining on the inside and a silver lily shaped clasp to keep it around her neck. Finally it was Cedric's turn; he gave her a silver necklace with a purple lightning bolt shaped pendent made of crystal. "Thank you all for your presents everyone, you just made this birthday my best birthday ever!" she told everyone with a smile.

The rest of the night was filled with music, dancing, talking, and all kind of fun things. Claryssa had a wonderful time, more fun than she ever had in her life and she was happy until she needed to take her second does of pain potion and yellow potion. From what she was told Snape had been given a sample of both potions and had copied them so if she needed any of her potions she could get some from him at Hogwarts. She was happy that she'd have people who actually care about her at school because she was so tired of her treatment at the Dursleys despite how kind her aunt was to her. She was glad both her and her aunt would be rid of Vernon soon enough because she knew that he was being punished for life. It seemed as if things were beginning to look up for her and she was taking it in stride, she was happy that her life had changed so drastically in the short few days that had taken place since she had decided to leave the Dursleys forever. Now all she needed was a new guardian to take care of her and she was hoping it was either going to be Prof. Sprout or Prof. McGonagall because they seemed the greatest options.

Cedric interrupted her musings with a quick clearing of his throat from behind her making her jump. "May I have a word?" he asked pointing towards the back door, "Yes you may," she said with a smile and followed him out the back door. Dumbledore and McGonagall watched them head towards the door and just turned back the other way smiling. "Young love," Dumbledore said and McGonagall just nodded her head in agreement and continued their conversation. When Cedric closed the door behind them he led her over to a bench in their garden and invited her to sit with him. "Can I help you put your necklace on?" he asked her noticing that she had it wrapped around her wrist. "Sure," she said and took it off her wrist and handed it to him. "You look stunning tonight Claryssa," he told her while clasping the necklace, "Thank you, you look nice as well," she told him and he said, "Thanks." Cedric was wearing a black button up short sleeved shirt that was unbuttoned to reveal an almost skin tight black shirt. He was wearing dark blue jeans and Claryssa could see his muscles through his shirt.

"I take it you didn't bring me out here to compliment my dress?" she said with a teasing smile, "No I didn't but it is quite lovely and it goes beautifully with your complexion," he said while stroking her cheek, giving her Goosebumps. "Then what did you bring me out here for?" she asked, "I wanted to ask you something," he told her with a shrug of his shoulder, "And what was that?" she teased, "It's kind of stupid now that I'm actually out here doing it," he said with a laugh. "Well go on we're already here," she said with a laugh. "Alright, do you know why I gave you that necklace?" he asked, Claryssa wasn't expecting that to be his question she didn't know what she expected but that wasn't it. "For my birthday?" she asked back slightly confused, "Well yes but I meant the lightning bolt pendent," he said. "To symbolize my scar would be my guess," she said wondering where this was going, "I got this for you because it symbolizes that you are unique and special to our world," he told her holding the pendent between his thumb and forefinger. "The stone is a type of rare crystal, it isn't amethyst but it's a darker purple to match your amazing personality but I got this rare crystal because you are a rare gem Claryssa and I think you deserve better than you've been dealt in your life," he told her softly.

"Wow you're so sweet Cedric," she told him with a smile and he turned around and said, "Well I mean every word of it and I intend to make your life as nice as I possibly can," he told her with a returning smile. "I'll look forward to that," she told him, "So will I," he told her before kissing her on the cheek. Cedric got up after that and helped her up and walked with her back to the back door holding her hand and then held the door open for her and it seemed that it was time to say good bye to the guests. Claryssa told everyone good bye on their way out and thanked them again for their presents until everyone was gone. "Claryssa you are welcome to sleep in the guest bedroom tonight," Cecilia told her with a smile, "Thanks so much for everything, you are an amazing woman Cecilia," Claryssa said with an answering smile. "Well thank you Claryssa, I hope you sleep well," Cecilia told her and Claryssa walked up the stairs, changed into her pajamas and fell instantly and happily asleep after her long day.

A/N: Alright there's chapter 6, I had to have a cute moment with Claryssa and Cedric at the end just for fun since they hadn't had any cute moments for a couple chapters or however long. I hope you enjoyed it, please review so I know what you think! Much Love my readers! ^-^


	7. Ch 7 A New Guardian and a Lovely Visit

A/N: Now the chapter that you all have been waiting for, the chapter Claryssa gets her new guardian never to return to the Dursleys again. Hooray for Claryssa! By the way from now on I'll probably say Minerva instead of McGonagall, it's easier. Also sorry it took so long, I was having issues deciding how her guardian would tell her that she wanted to be her guardian.

Chapter 7: A New Guardian and A lovely Visit

Claryssa woke from a nightmare screaming, she had been reliving her worst memories of the times with her uncle. When the piercing scream pierced the night McGonagall was the first to reach her, Claryssa was curled up in a ball shaking uncontrollably. "Claryssa what is it?" she asked, Claryssa sat there sobbing and shaking unable to speak; her nightmare had seemed so real.

Minerva sat there rubbing her back waiting for it all to stop while Cecilia tried to get her to relax and uncurl herself out of a ball. "It's alright Claryssa, it wasn't real just a nightmare," Cecilia said over and over again while lightly tugging on her legs.

Eventually Claryssa snapped out of her frozen stupor and let herself relax enough to uncurl herself but still she couldn't stop shaking or crying. "Come on Claryssa it is ok we're here for you," Cedric said from behind her, he was stroking his fingers through her hair while sitting next to Minerva who was still rubbing her back.

It took several minutes for Claryssa to attempt to stop sobbing but eventually she stopped and snapped herself completely out of her daze, she was a little sore she figured it was from thrashing around from her dream, she was sweating and the front of her shirt was soaked from her tears. "I thought I was back at the Dursleys with my uncle, I was reliving my worst memories, my worst fears," she told them softly as soon as she could speak.

"Claryssa you will never be harmed like that again, your uncle is in Azkaban, the wizard prison right now awaiting his trial, he is nowhere near you and the only time you will have to see him personally again is at the trial, do not worry anymore you are safe," she heard Dumbledore say from the doorway and she relaxed ever so slightly.

"Claryssa I will personally make sure that you are never harmed like that again, I give you my word that I will watch over you whilst you are at Hogwarts and Minerva will also make sure of it, she'll watch over you when I cannot, please trust us," Dumbledore said and Claryssa nodded her head but still did not completely relax herself.

"Claryssa Lily Potter I will make sure you are not harmed and I promise to help you out with anything that comes your way, like your mother would want me to, she was one of my best friends and I gave her my word I'd watch over you while you were at Hogwarts and I intend to do so, please just relax you are safe now," Minerva told her softly and encouragingly.

Claryssa uncurled herself completely and even sat up, Minerva's kind words about her mother had made her relax and feel happy. "Thank you so much for all of your help, I'm sorry for your lack of sleep over me," Claryssa said.

"Do not worry Claryssa we were expecting for this to happen sometime soon, it has barely just ended and your memories are still fresh," Dumbledore told her truthfully.

"Oh great, so you expect me to be an emotional basket case for awhile, that's lovely," Claryssa muttered with dry humor, at that Dumbledore laughed as did everyone else.

"I just meant that I knew you would be affected even after you were far away from your uncle, it is to be expected with people who have gone through so much abuse as you," Dumbledore said.

"Whatever you say Dumbledore, I'll just hide it from you guys so you don't worry about me for no reason then," she told them.

"Do not hide it from us Claryssa, we want to know whenever you have nightmares so we can try to help you through them," he told her.

"Fine then, I'm tired can I go back to sleep now?" she asked, "Yes you may," he told her and everyone left her to fall back asleep, except for Cedric who laid down with her and stroked his fingers through her hair until she fell back asleep.

When Claryssa woke back up, Cedric was gone and her head was pounding, she hadn't had anymore dreams for the rest of the night but she still remembered her nightmare vividly. She got up and walked downstairs groggily and sat down at the kitchen table yawning. "Good morning Claryssa, how was the rest of your night?" Cecilia asked kindly.

"It was fine; do you have anything for headaches?" Claryssa asked rubbing her forehead. "Yes I do, do you want Tylenol or Excedrin?" Cecilia asked, "Either will work," Claryssa told her.

"Alright dear," Cecilia told her as she handed her two Tylenols and a glass of water.

"Thank you very much Cecilia," Claryssa told her before taking the pills, "So what's for breakfast?"

"For breakfast we are having French toast, bacon, and sausage, and luckily for you I am almost done with the first batch," Cecilia said with a motherly smile. How Claryssa had craved to get a smile like that at the Dursleys, as kind as her aunt was she had never given her a motherly smile like Cecilia was now and it made Claryssa smile genuinely back.

"Good morning Claryssa, good morning mother," Cedric said with a yawn as he walked into the kitchen. Claryssa laughed at his messy bed head and replied, "Good morning to you too."

Cecilia leaned down and kissed Cedric's cheek as he sat down and then placed the first batch of food on the table. "Thank you so much," Claryssa said with a hungry look at the French toast, she served herself and waited for Cedric to serve himself before she dug in.

"How did you sleep last night Claryssa?" Cedric asked politely, "Relatively well despite my late night disturbance, thanks to you. I appreciate you staying with me until I fell asleep," Claryssa answered, "You are most welcome," Cedric said with a smile.

That's when everyone else started coming in and their conversation ended, everyone asked Claryssa how she slept and she answered the same way except became more irritated with every question. She was fine and everyone would think otherwise because of a stupid nightmare, it was irritating for Claryssa. "Claryssa what would you like to do today?" Dumbledore asked kindly.

"I don't know," Claryssa answered honestly, she hadn't thought about what she'd do once she was a free woman.

"Well why don't you think about it during breakfast then," Dumbledore said with a smile and then dug into his French toast getting syrup on his beard which made Claryssa giggle. Claryssa thought long and hard about what she wanted to do today, a million ideas came to mind, many of which included things she'd never been able to do at the Dursleys. Then she started thinking about the Dursleys, she still hated her uncle, she still disliked her cousin Dudley, but she still loved her aunt. She knew it wasn't possible to stay with her aunt but Dumbledore said she could visit her whenever she wanted pretty much.

"Can I go visit my aunt since we are so close?" Claryssa asked hopefully, even thought she doubted they'd say yes by the blank looks of surprise on all of their faces.

"Is that really what you want to do?" Minerva asked and Claryssa nodded her head yes. "Then yes we can go see your aunt today but I am telling you this now, Dumbledore and I are escorting you there and to your new home," she added.

"Where's my new home?" Claryssa asked, "Why Hogwarts of course, you will sleep there tonight," Minerva said smiling happily.

"Do I get to see the outside or are we just doing that side apparation thing?" Claryssa asked excitedly.

"We thought you'd appreciate it more if you saw it from the outside at the start of term, so you can experience everything new and exciting like a true First Year," Dumbledore explained and Claryssa agreed that she would.

After breakfast Claryssa ran upstairs and changed into her clothes again, since she didn't have anything else to wear other than her dresses. She hurried up and got ready, grabbed her Lily bag, and said good byes and thank yous to the Diggorys. She spent an extra moment hugging Cedric and she was glad she'd be seeing him again when school started back up. "I'm ready," she told both Dumbledore and McGonagall excitedly and they walked out the door towards her aunt's house.

When they got there Claryssa slowed to almost a complete stop, her nightmares were beginning to flare up inside her mind despite the fact that she knew her uncle was not there. "Are you alright Claryssa?" Minerva asked noticing her hesitation.

"I haven't been here since before my uncle was locked up, I'm just a little nervous is all," she answered truthfully.

"Are you sure you want to do this? We can wait if you decide otherwise," Minerva told her reassuringly.

"No I have to do this, not to mention I need my clothes, I can't wear these same clothes over and over again," she said and she began walking swiftly towards the house. When she got past the garden wall she noticed how unkempt the garden was, her aunt had been neglecting the garden because of her and she would make sure that changed. She looked through the window and noticed her aunt leaning against the wall next to her cupboard and it saddened her to know she had made her aunt sad.

She bravely knocked on the door and watched her aunt jump up quickly and rush to the door. When her aunt opened the door her smile widened at the sight of her aunt again and she hugged her aunt around the middle, something she hadn't done in a long time. "Claryssa you are ok, I am so relieved," her aunt said all teary-eyed. "Yes I am ok, I'm sorry for leaving without telling you first but I had to get away, your husband made my life miserable," Claryssa said beginning to cry with her aunt.

"How did he make your life miserable enough for you to leave? I need to hear it from you, not some know it all wizards," her aunt told her as they all walked into the kitchen and sat down.

"On Dudley's birthday while you were getting Dudley's bath ready he began to beat me up, everyday since he would beat me up sometimes until I could barely breathe. I was told I was lucky I hadn't gotten asthma with all the abuse my lungs had gone through, my whole body underneath my clothes was black and blue with bruises," Claryssa told her bravely, happy she could finally tell her aunt.

"He abused you and you didn't tell me?! Why didn't you tell me Claryssa?" her aunt asked upset.

"I was afraid you'd confront him and he'd turn on you and abuse you too," Claryssa told her honestly and looking very ashamed.

"He wouldn't have laid a finger on me Claryssa, you should've told me so I could stop it," her aunt told her sternly.

"I'm sorry Aunt Petunia, you're right but I was too scared," Claryssa said sadly, and squeezed her aunt's hand and cleared her throat to show her aunt there was more.

"Um Aunt Petunia, there's something else I need to tell you but please just let me finish before you say anything alright? Otherwise I might lose my courage," she said slowly, not wanting to finish the rest of her story.

"Alright Claryssa I promise to listen to every word without interruption," her aunt said and then began to listen intently to her niece.

"Do you remember that one day I wore my really cute outfit that makes me look like a princess, that I don't wear very often?" Claryssa asked intently.

"Yes I remember, you were eating with better manners than usual because you seemed intent to prove yourself for some reason," her aunt said remembering.

"Yes I was because I was trying to show off to Uncle Vernon that I could be a good girl and I was hoping he wouldn't hurt me anymore if I did," Claryssa divulged honestly, making her aunt and Minerva sniffle their tears away.

"That night the complete opposite happened, he beat me harder and then he told me that the way I looked and acted…tickled his fancy," she said disgustedly. "He then proceeded to rip off my panties and he…he raped me," Claryssa came to a climax and began to sob too.

"He did what?" he aunt asked disgustedly, "He raped her Mrs. Dursley," Minerva answered to save Claryssa the pain of saying it again.

"How many times did he do that Claryssa?" her aunt begged for information though it disgusted her to even think her husband would do that to her niece.

"I lost count after 10," Claryssa told her through her tears; he raped me every day since then until I escaped and the beatings got worse every night. Though I doubt you knew about it, I had made a friend that lives over on Magnolia Crescent, both Dudley and Uncle Vernon knew and your husband decided to punish me worse for me having a friend," Claryssa said getting into her story and glad to finally be getting it all out to her aunt.

"Claryssa if I'd known this was going on, I could've stopped it, I know you were afraid but I could've gotten you away from him. You should've told me this all when it began happening," her aunt said caressing Claryssa's cheek softly.

"I know Aunt Petunia, I'm sorry I didn't tell you I'm so sorry," Claryssa said crying again and embracing her aunt. Dumbledore and Minerva allowed their conversation to continue until Claryssa was all cried out. Claryssa then told her aunt all about Cedric and his family and how much she'd felt welcome there and her aunt happily listened.

"Will I ever get to meet your friend and his family so I may thank them?" her aunt asked almost pleadingly. Claryssa looked towards Minerva and asked her with her eyes, Minerva nodded slightly and Claryssa turned back to her aunt and said, "Yes you may, they live at Number 4 Magnolia Crescent and they are the Diggory family, and to warn you now they are wizards like me," Claryssa said honestly.

"So you got your letter then?" her aunt asked almost sulking, "Yes I did and I'm going to Hogwarts but I have to get a new guardian before I start or else the Ministry of Magic will take control of me," Claryssa said knowingly.

"Well I always knew you'd be like your mother and father, I just wanted to forget it while you were here," Aunt Petunia said a little sadly.

"I will train up to be a great witch though Aunt Petunia, just you wait and then I can protect you against my uncle if he ever shows his ugly mug here again," Claryssa said excitedly making the three grown ups around her laugh.

"What? I mean it, I will make sure you are safe no matter what," Claryssa said determinately.

"I believe you Claryssa," her aunt said happily and for the first time in her life was relieved that there was such thing as magic because she knew she'd need protection from Vernon after he ever got out.

"While you are here Claryssa I want you to know that I am going to be getting a divorce from your uncle and getting full custody of Dudley so that I can make him a better person then I let your uncle turn him into," her aunt told her truthfully.

"That's great Aunt Petunia, I'm happy for you, and I hope everything works out," Claryssa said smiling.

"Claryssa who is going to take care of you? Who will be your guardian so I know you are safe and taken care of?" her aunt asked.

"Claryssa has been under our strict observation since she crawled over to the Diggory's and fainted, we watched over her while she was in the hospital and since she woke up a couple days ago. We will make sure she is given a suitable guardian and taken care of fully," Dumbledore said, talking for the first time since they had arrived.

"I would prefer if it were a female guardian Prof. Dumbledore, since I know what she went through was hard for her," Petunia said determinately.

"It will be, Claryssa has requested the same thing and we already have two candidates and that would be Prof. Sprout the Herbology teacher which is a subject close to what you would call gardening and Prof. McGonagall here, who is our Transfiguration teacher which is changing one thing into another," Dumbledore explained.

"I'm glad you have picked two people whose classes would be of Claryssa's interests," Petunia said with a small smile.

"Speaking of gardens, Aunt Petunia, why is ours so unkempt looking?" Claryssa asked wanting to know how her clean and tidy aunt could let something become not clean and tidy.

"I have missed you darling, so I left it how you left it so I could preserve your memory," her aunt said shyly.

"Well I want you to keep our garden looking its best so that whenever I come to visit we can admire it together," Claryssa told her aunt.

"You will be coming back to visit?" Aunt Petunia asked happily. "Yes Prof. Dumbledore and McGonagall have agreed to let me come back and visit every now and then," Claryssa said happily.

"I'm so glad," her aunt said with a smile, "And I will make sure to keep our garden in tip top shape," she added.

"I'm glad as well, by the way can I go get my clothes and the rest of my books so I have possessions again please?" she asked her aunt hopefully.

"Yes you may and while you are at it I will talk to your professors," her aunt said and Claryssa made her way to her bedroom. Her trunk appeared next to her when she got there and she began packing all of her clothes, books, and any other possession she had left other than the furniture of course. She had just sat down on her bed when her memories hit her full force, she instantly curled up into a ball and began to sob again on her bed and relive her memories.

When Claryssa had been gone for a half an hour the three adults became suspicious, they all knew she didn't have that many possessions and began to worry. "Claryssa are you doing alright?" Petunia yelled up the stairs but there was no answer.

The three adults ran up the stairs and burst through the door to see a nearly catatonic Claryssa curled up into a ball sobbing. "Claryssa what's wrong?" her aunt asked shaking Claryssa but getting no response. "She is reliving her memories again," Minerva said and mentally smacked herself in the forehead, "I should've come up here with her to make sure she was ok," she added angrily.

"What part of her memories is she reliving?" Petunia asked worriedly, "Her worst memories of the abuse and rapes," Dumbledore answered her solemnly.

"Claryssa, you are safe now remember you are with me, Dumbledore, and your aunt? Your uncle is no where near you, please snap out of it," Minerva said to her as she stroked her fingers through her hair.

Dumbledore sat down next to her and began dabbing her forehead with a damp cloth he had transfigured out of no where, "You will not be harmed again Claryssa, we will protect you from any harm that comes your way," he told her softly trying to get her to snap out of her current state.

"What should I do?" asked Petunia, "Anything you think a mother would do to help her child through something," Minerva said honestly. Petunia began rubbing Claryssa's back and cooing lullabies to her, this is how she used to get Dudley out of his temper tantrums.

"Has this happened before?" Petunia asked, "Yes last night, she slept over at the Diggory's after the surprise birthday party we threw her, we all stayed there and when she woke up screaming and crying, Cedric stroked his fingers through her hair, I rubbed her back and Cecilia, Cedric's mom, tried to get her to uncurl herself out of a ball, and we all whispered reassuring things and she eventually snapped out of it," Minerva told her truthfully.

"Did it take long?" Petunia asked scared, "It took about 20 minutes but we assume she relived her memories because she was so close to here, and it was completely psychological but she is actually where it all happened, it may take longer," Dumbledore answered truthfully.

Their constant cooing and reassurances snapped her back to reality after another half an hour and she then needed a does of her pain potion and yellow potion which Dumbledore had some stowed away in his robes, incase they were needed. "These potions were made by Prof. Snape so they may be a little different from the ones we got at the hospital," Dumbledore told her truthfully but Claryssa didn't care they were the same to her and they'd make the pain go away.

"Claryssa, thank goodness you're alright, we were getting worried," Minerva said smiling tenderly.

"I'm sorry, it's just being back in this room just made everything feel so fresh like it was just yesterday, I'll be alright now though" Claryssa said squeezing Minerva's hand reassuringly.

Petunia noticed the connection the two of them had and smiled, she knew they would be good together. "Did you grab everything darling?" Petunia asked, "Yes ma'am even Dudley's old books that he's never read, I can have them right?" Claryssa asked to be sure.

"You go right ahead as a matter of fact I have a book for you too," her aunt said and left the room to go grab it. A couple minutes later she returned with a wrapped book, "I already told you it was a book but I wrapped it last night in case you ever came back," her aunt said with a sad smile.

Claryssa opened the present gladly and was surprised but happy to see a new book, it was a book of Fairy Tales, obviously the muggle kind, Claryssa was happy though because her uncle had forbade her aunt to read her Fairy Tales when she was a small child. "Thank you so much Aunt Petunia, Claryssa said happily before placing the book on top of her book of Wizard Fairy Tales that Minerva had given her.

"You are most welcome dear, I would have given it to you earlier but your uncle had forbidden me to read them to you as soon as I bought this book 6 years ago, I saved it though in case I ever was given the chance to give it to you," her aunt explained. Claryssa just smiled and hugged her aunt and then they all walked down the stairs back to the kitchen, Dumbledore dragging her trunk behind him.

"May I go take a shower since I haven't taken one in a few days since I have been in a hospital and everything?" Claryssa asked as soon as they were all sitting again. "Yes you may," her aunt said and Claryssa grabbed an outfit out of her trunk and walked into her bathroom.

"Will she be alright?" Petunia asked as soon as they heard the water running. "I think she will be, it'll just take some time and nurturing to get her through everything," Minerva answered honestly.

"That is good to know, I was wondering who you guys are leaning towards for Claryssa's new guardian?" Petunia asked probingly. "As I said before it'll be one of two people, either Prof. Sprout or Prof. McGonagall here," Dumbledore answered acting chipper.

"May I make a suggestion?" Petunia asked hopefully. "I suppose you may," Dumbledore said wearily, wondering where this was going.

"I wish for Minerva to be her guardian since I cannot, I trust her and I can see that Claryssa does too. Minerva seems to be the best choice and I believe that Claryssa will benefit more from living with someone she trusts and seems to care for," Petunia said shocking them both.

"Is that your wish?" Minerva asked flabbergasted, Petunia just nodded her head intently. "Then your wish is my command, I decided last night that I wanted to be her guardian but I just haven't figured out how to tell her yet," Minerva said nervously.

"Ask her when she gets out if that's what she wants, she will decide what she wants, she is very strong-willed despite everything that happened to her," Petunia said happily and the kitchen fell silent once more.

When Claryssa walked out of the bathroom dressed and feeling better she noticed how silent and tense the kitchen was, she walked in and asked, "What's going on?" thinking that something had happened while she was in the shower.

"Why don't you sit down Claryssa, we have something to discuss with you," Dumbledore said breaking the silence. Claryssa wearily obeyed confused on what was going on and hoping that it was not anything bad, she had already gone through enough shit already.

"Whilst you were showering and pampering yourself we had a slight discussion on who your guardian will be," Dumbledore explained. "Alright and have you come to a decision yet?" Claryssa asked relieved about the topic at hand.

"We have," Petunia said after another moment of silence, "And?" Claryssa asked wanting them to stop beating around the bush.

Minerva cleared her throat nervously before continuing, "Claryssa I have been watching you closely since we were summoned to the Diggory's after your mishap, and though it has been only a few straight days, I have begun to care for you in a motherly fashion and it would be my greatest pleasure and honor to be you guardian."

Claryssa sat there silently for a moment soaking up the words that were just said, searching for any lies or hesitations, to make sure what she heard was correct. Her heart was soaring happily at the idea of being wanted by someone as important and special as Minerva and she realized it was what she wanted. "It would be an honor to have you as my guardian Minerva," Claryssa said and then gave the Transfiguration teacher a hug.


	8. Ch 8 A New Home

A/N: Ok thank you to all who has added me or my story to your favorites and everyone who has reviewed, it means a whole bunch to me. ^-^ So who liked Chapter 7? I know I enjoyed writing it once I actually got the idea in my head he he. So this chapter Claryssa gets to go to Hogwarts for the first time but she doesn't get to see the outside until the day all the other first years do because otherwise it wouldn't be fair, would it? ^_~

Chapter 8: A New Home.

Petunia went about happily making dinner for her niece, her niece's new guardian, and Prof. Dumbledore. Claryssa was happy that she had a new guardian that she could actually trust and that she would still be able to see her aunt whenever she wished. Dumbledore was sitting at the table humming a strange, cheery tune and tapping on the table to his little tune merrily while Minerva sat back smiling, watching Claryssa doodle enthusiastically.

_The girl sure has talent_ Minerva thought to herself as she watched Claryssa perfect the lines of a rose she was drawing. Claryssa felt eyes upon her and looked up to find both Minerva and Dumbledore smiling at her and she blushed and covered up her doodling.

"You are extremely talented Claryssa, do not be embarrassed by us watching you draw," Dumbledore said smiling his goofy smile with a twinkle in his crystal blue eyes.

"Thank you very much Headmaster," Claryssa said with a slight blush left on her cheeks. "I have enjoyed drawing since I was at least 5 years old, I have just never been complimented on it sir," she said with the blush deepening a little bit.

"I never knew you drew so well Claryssa," Aunt Petunia said as she looked over Dumbledore's shoulder.

"Well I couldn't go about doing something I enjoyed in front of my uncle now could I? He would have just taken that away from me too, I never got to do anything fun in front of him," Claryssa said slightly irritated.

"I am sorry I did nothing to stop him Claryssa, I just didn't want him to hate me for being kind to you, I know it sounds selfish and I am sorry, so very sorry. Will you ever forgive me?" her aunt pleaded.

"I know you were only trying to protect yourself Aunt Petunia, I forgive you. You have always been like a mother figure to me and I appreciate everything you have ever done for me," Claryssa said truthfully.

"Thank you for being so forgiving Claryssa, I am grateful I raised you as well as I did," her aunt said smiling teary eyed.

"You are most welcome Aunt Petunia," Claryssa said before beginning to draw again and her aunt went back to cooking dinner.

Twenty minutes later everyone was sitting at the table eating Claryssa's favorite dinner, Barbeque ribs, corn on the cob, garlic mashed potatoes, and dinner rolls with fruit punch Kool-Aid to drink. Claryssa tucked in instantly and began eating quickly, not realizing how hungry she was. Dumbledore and Minerva began eating a little wearily not knowing how this all would taste.

"This is absolutely delicious Petunia, thank you so much for this wonderful dinner," Minerva said cheerily.

"That is true Minerva, this is a truly wonderful dinner Petunia, thank you very much," Prof. Dumbledore said truthfully.

"Well thank you for allowing me to see my niece again, it is the least I can do," Petunia said eying them thankfully. Claryssa looked up at the adults around her smiling to see them getting along so well and began enjoying her meal even more.

"Petunia, how do you like the idea of seeing Claryssa once a month?" Minerva asked curiously.

"I would be most pleased with that decision, it is more than I had hoped," Petunia answered with a large grin on her thin lips.

"I love that idea too Minerva," Claryssa added excitedly not waiting to be asked.

Dumbledore and Minerva had to laugh momentarily at her enthusiasm and completely made up the decision that once a month would be perfect. Petunia then got up and brought out the dessert, Peach Cobbler, and Claryssa's grin widened.

"What is this?" Minerva asked curiously. "Peach Cobbler, it is a family favorite here, it's peaches in a syrupy sauce covered in bread crumbs," Petunia explained.

"It sounds delectable," Dumbledore said as he took a plate from Petunia cheerily.

"Oh it is Professor, it most certainly is," Claryssa said with a giggle as she accepted a very large piece.

"This is a spectacular dessert Petunia," Minerva said surprised after her first bite.

"Well thank you Minerva, it isn't every day I get to introduce new meals to people," Petunia answered happily.

"Prof. Dumbledore may I make a suggestion that we add these meals to the menu at Hogwarts for the House Elves to cook?" Minerva asked hopefully.

"I think that is an excellent idea Prof. McGonagall," Dumbledore said with a nod of approval.

"What are House Elves?" Claryssa asked confused. "House Elves are close to what you would call maids or butlers, they are creatures with magical powers of their own, and they cook, clean, and tend to Hogwarts in almost everyway. They are very useful creatures to have on our side and we cherish them dearly," Dumbledore explained thoroughly.

"They sound fascinating," Claryssa said enthusiastically and Petunia nodded her head in agreement.

"They are and most of the more rich and powerful witches and wizards have them at their manors but they usually do not treat them as kindly as we do at Hogwarts," Dumbledore indulged.

"Those certain House Elves must live horrible lives then," Claryssa said in a voice full of pity.

"Most do yes, but there is nothing we can do about it, House Elves are bound to their masters, and that means they have the right to do with them what they wish and treat them as nicely or horribly as they wish, so is the law of the House Elves enslavement," Dumbledore explained.

"That's horrible Professor, why are they allowed to do that?" Claryssa probed.

"There is nothing we can do about it Claryssa, that is just how the law has been since the beginning," Minerva said truthfully.

"That sucks, they should change that law," Claryssa said sulkily.

"They should but the proposition has to be made in front of the whole Wizengamot, which would be similar to your Parliament, it has to be approved by at least 2/3 of it and then it has to be sent to the Minister of Magic himself to make the last decision, it is very close to your systems," Dumbledore explained truthfully.

"So in summary, the magic system is just as complex as ours?" Petunia asked to clarify.

"Yes it is but sometimes ours is more complex, but I do not think you want me to go into the complete details of our Politics," Dumbledore said with a small laugh.

"No that is quite alright, I already have difficulties with our own Politics, I do not wish to understand everything about your world," Petunia answered.

"That is what I thought my dear," Dumbledore answered with a chuckle.

"Not that this isn't fun but it's getting late Albus, we should probably get Claryssa to her new home so she may rest," Minerva said with authority.

"I am afraid it is true, we must get you to Hogwarts Claryssa, you will need rest," Dumbledore said stomping any arguments she was about to say.

"Alright I guess we have to go Aunt Petunia but I will see you soon," Claryssa said with a hug to her aunt.

"Ok Claryssa, it was lovely to see you again," her aunt said squeezing her tight.

"It was lovely seeing you again Petunia, though our past was never the best," Dumbledore said patting her hand softly but no one understood but those two.

"Likewise Dumbledore, please take care of my niece," Petunia replied.

"We will, she will be in good hands, I promise," Minerva answered truthfully.

"That is good to know Minerva," Petunia said happily and then wished them all a good night as they walked out the front door.

"Thank you so much for letting me see my aunt again, it was a lovely visit," Claryssa said happily to the two adults walking her down the street.

"You are most welcome dear," Dumbledore and Minerva replied together.

When they got to the end of the street they stopped behind a large group of bushes, grabbed hold of one another, and swished on their heels to appear once again inside of small town. "Claryssa close your eyes while we enter a building and floo inside of Hogwarts," Dumbledore said.

"Roger that Headmaster," she said happily and they entered a cozy tavern.

They walked over to the fireplace, threw in some green powder, and then Dumbledore stepped in and said, "My office," and he was gone in a big puff of green flame which startled Claryssa making her step back a few steps. "This is called flooing Claryssa, it is another vital way we get around now you and I will go together since it is your first time so do not be afraid," Minerva said before throwing some green powder into the flames.

She grabbed Claryssa's elbow, dragged her into the flames, and yelled "Dumbledore's office." Claryssa watched as she span around in circles watching fireplaces go by before she stopped and stepped out into a circular room with a bunch of interesting silver instruments all around her.

"Welcome to my office Claryssa," Dumbledore said with a serene smile at the look of amazement on Claryssa's face. Claryssa took a second to let the dizzy feeling go away and then she looked more closely around the oval office. The interesting silver instruments were all puffing out smoke that seemed to disappear as soon as it appeared; Claryssa watched them with fascination for a few minutes and began looking for something else to ogle at.

That's when she saw the red and gold plumage…there perched behind the desk was a magnificent bird as big as a swan, so beautifully colored it looked like fire itself. It had amber eyes that beckoned her forward and she found herself staring at it awestruck and completely amazed. She reached up slowly and stroked it gently; its feathers were silky soft and had a velvety smoothness. She was completely immersed in the bird she had forgotten Dumbledore and McGonagall were even in the room until she heard Dumbledore clear his throat and she jumped in surprise.

"Fawkes is a Phoenix Claryssa, they burn every 500 years and are reborn from the ashes, and they also carry immensely heavy loads of their tears of healing powers," Dumbledore explained softly as Claryssa continued staring and smiling at the beautiful bird in front of her. She stroked it one more time and it made a beautiful musical sounding note and her smile widened.

"He's gorgeous," she said lovingly before turning towards her new guardian whom she realized was staring at her with a weird expression on her face, it looked motherly and loving and it made Claryssa blush slightly and advert her eyes, she never got looks like that.

"Claryssa maybe we should go see your room, Minerva said clearing her throat. Claryssa just nodded and resigned to follow her guardian. They walked out of Dumbledore's office and she realized Dumbledore wasn't following them.

"Aren't you coming Headmaster?" Claryssa asked curiously. "No I'm afraid I have some work to do but I will see you tomorrow for breakfast, good night," he said and then sat down behind his desk.

"Oh alright good night then," Claryssa said and then stepped onto the spiral staircase and jumped when it began twisting her downwards.

"You will find many things strange and interesting here Claryssa, the staircases move by themselves so you also have to be careful when you're trying to find your classes, since you will be here a month longer than everyone else you will probably have it all memorized by then so I expect you to help out your classmates," Minerva explained.

"Yes ma'am," Claryssa said with a fake salute and a smile and Minerva just smiled back and continued leading her towards the staircases upwards. When they reached the stairs she looked up and down and realized she was in a very large building with at least 7 floors and her eyes widened. She watched as a couple of stairways changed from one side to another and shook her head thinking _This will take awhile to get used to_ then took her first step onto the stairs.

When Claryssa was done climbing all the stairs, she was slightly out of breath, and she was on the 7th floor and still following Minerva. They passed a portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress and Minerva stopped and pointed to it, "This is the portrait for Gryffindor house, which I am the head of, I would be proud if you were in my house but I won't care if you are in another house," Minerva told her. Claryssa made a mental note to try to be in Gryffindor if she could help it but she also had a yearning to be in Hufflepuff with Cedric.

They continued walking and at the end of the hallway was a large door, Minerva opened it up to find what looked like a house inside. Claryssa walked in amazed, _everything is so cool and interesting here _Claryssa thought. The house was nice and decorated in Scarlet Red, Deep Gold, and Emerald Green, Claryssa admired her surroundings before seeing the kitchen and she walked over to it.

The cabinets and countertops were cherry wood with black accent, the fridge, stove, dishwater, and everything else was black and Claryssa admired it as well, "This house is beautiful," Claryssa said happily.

"Thank you, this will be your home as well," Minerva said sweetly making Claryssa smile widely and feel warm and bubbly at the same time.

"So where's my room?" Claryssa asked timidly, Minerva just led the way to a door on the other side of the living room, they'd entered from.

It was cherry wood and Claryssa stroked it fondly, it was her favorite. She opened the door slowly and her draw dropped. The room before her was everything she had ever dreamed of. The walls were a gorgeous purple, all the wood in the room was cherry, which included the floor, the bed frame, the dresser, the bed side table, the bookshelf, her very own desk and chair, and a large stand up mirror that was in the corner. Her blankets were made of purple silk and her puffy comforter blanket was designed exactly like her lily bag was so she fell instantly in love with it. On her bedside table was a crystal vase with red lilies in it and she smiled widely and span around and hugged Minerva around the middle. "It's lovely! I couldn't imagine a more perfect room," she said happily.

"You are most welcome Claryssa," Minerva said after recovering from the shock of getting hugged so enthusiastically.

"The door there leads into your walk in closet which I took the liberty of filling with the clothes, dresses, and your robes we bought the other day, your clothes from your aunt's house and a few others I decided to have bought and delivered here by owl, also I took the liberty of buying you new shoes both muggle and magic. I had your bags completely emptied and out here in your room so your bookshelf has all of your books and more that I had delivered here with your clothes and such, so you are fully stocked," Minerva said.

"Wow you're great, thank you so much," Claryssa said with emotion riding in her voice.

"You're welcome, I want you to enjoy your stay with me as much as possible, also the other door over there leads to your own personal bathroom which I had stocked accordingly " Minerva said happily and then left Claryssa to explore her room.

Claryssa made haste to put her lily bag down by her bed and take a shower in her very own bathroom. She was so excited, she ran into the bathroom and froze, the walls were again purple and the wood was cherry, the mirror was elegantly designed with lilies both at the top and bottom, and her shower/bath was huge enough for two people to sit in the bath comfortably. There were the two knobs for hot and cold and three other knobs that Claryssa didn't know what to do with. So she went to McGonagall for one last question, "Minerva what do the extra knobs do in the bath?"

"The one on the far right is for scents in the bath; you simply turn it on and say what scent you want and scented water will help fill the bathtub, the other two are for bubbles, you pick the far left one it'll pour out reds, pinks, and purples and the middle knob pours out blues, green, and teals," Minerva told her and Claryssa rushed back to her bathroom gleefully.

Claryssa wanted to try out her bath, she turned on the water to her liking before clogging the plug, she turned on the scented knob and whispered summer rain, and then turned on both bubbles and soon her bath was full of rainbow colored bubbles and the smell of sweet summer rain. She sank down into the water and sighed with content and felt herself become invigorated, "Ah this is amazingly relaxing," she said quietly and breathed in the scent. She looked up for shampoo and conditioner to find Herbal Essences, which was her favorite that she rarely got to use and she smiled widely.

She rinsed, lathered, and repeated with both the shampoo and conditioner and then washed her body with cucumber melon body wash before just laying there in the tub until she felt the water getting cold. She drained the water and dried off with a soft plush purple towel and then noticed her robe from home was hanging on the back of the door and she wrapped her hair up in the towel, put on her robe and then went into her room to find something to put on.

Claryssa looked into the dresser to find her underwear had all been thrown away and replaced with pairs that actually fit her correctly and were all rather cute with matching bras, A-cups of course and then a white, a neutral, and a black bra. She threw on a green pair of panties with a red rose on the front and searched the other drawers. The second dresser was full of socks so she quickly closed it and looked in the third drawer to find pj's of all different sorts, nightgowns, t-shirts, tank tops, shorts, pants, and one or two silky lingerie looking nightgowns which Claryssa blushed at and buried them under everything else.

Since it was a warm summer evening she chose a green tank top with a red rose on the front and matching shorts, which to her surprise also matched her underwear making her slightly giggle. She looked down to find three pairs of slippers next to her, one matched her lily bag, one was a pair of warm pink fuzzy slippers, and one was a sleek looking blue pair with squishy bottoms. So she chose the lily bag pair and walked out to the living room to wish Minerva a goodnight.

"Good night professor McGonagall," she said as she reached the chair her guardian was sitting in.

McGonagall looked up and smiled at the sight of her new charge in all the new things she had bought her, "I take it you liked everything?" she asked still smiling.

"Oh yes I love it all, I'm so thrilled to have nice things, the room is more than I could ever ask for," Claryssa said with a huge smile.

"Well good, I'm glad you're happy I haven't had much experience taking care of children even though I am a teacher so I tried to make it to your liking," Minerva said.

"Well you did splendidly, thank you so very much," Claryssa said with a yawn, she was very tired she noted.

"You are most certainly welcome, good night and sleep well," Minerva said with a small yawn herself.

"Good night professor," Claryssa said and they both walked off in the directions of their rooms. Claryssa looked over at the desk as she passed it and noticed there was some paper on one of the shelves and smiled, she would have doodling paper after all. Claryssa kicked off her slippers as she sat on her queen sized bed, she moved the covers aside and climbed into the most comfortable bed she had ever been in. She snuggled into the silk and comforter and it wasn't very long indeed until she fell deeply into a comfortable dreamless sleep.

A/N: Ok so I know it took a long time and I am sorry but I have been busy. Before you ask Claryssa has a very high respect for Dumbledore and McGonagall so that is why she uses the formalities such as Headmaster, Professor, and such. She won't always call them that especially once she gets into the routine of living at Hogwarts and gets used to being around them constantly, then she will either call them by their first names or their last names, except for when she's angry at them which will happen, she is a preteen after all, and then she will resort back to formalities which will be a hint to the professors lol. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please read and review.


	9. Ch 9 The Month Before School

A/N: Ok so this chapter is basically Claryssa exploring Hogwarts and getting used to all the professors and overall just adapting to her new home. It was a hell of a lot longer than I thought it would be because I get bored writing stuff like this sometimes but I actually wasn't bored and found it rather fun lol.

Chapter 9: The Month before School

Claryssa woke up fully refreshed and smiling; she had just had the best sleep of her entire life. She got up, cracked her back, stretched, and walked into the bathroom. She nearly screamed, her hair was puffier than it had ever been and it was all tangled, she had forgotten to brush her hair after her bath. So she grabbed her new brush which was emerald green with a red rose on the back, and a design of a purple lily wrapped around the handle, and she began the long process of brushing her long tangled hair.

Thirty to 45 minutes later she put her brush down, looked at her usual happy reflection, and walked into the room to find something to wear. She looked in the closet and found all of her usual clothes and some new ones and picked out one of her comfy pairs of blue jeans and a plain purple tank top with red lace around the top and bottom. She grabbed out a black pair of shoes with purple laces and purple trim, she grabbed a purple pair of socks and put her shoes on before walking out into the living room.

"Good morning Claryssa, how did you sleep?" Minerva asked from the kitchen while sipping some coffee.

Claryssa followed the voice and sat across the table from her guardian before answering, "That was the best sleep I had ever had, the bed and blankets are just so comfortable," Claryssa said smiling.

"Very good, I'm glad you slept well," Minerva said with a smile before a knock came at the door.

"Come in Severus," Minerva said politely and in walked Claryssa's potion master looking as sulky as if someone had just kicked his puppy.

"Good morning Snape," Claryssa said with a smile at the sight of the professor, she had hoped the grumpiness would wear off eventually.

"Good morning Miss Potter," Professor Snape said as he placed a crate of potions on the table.

"Thank you Severus, will you please tell Claryssa and me about these potions that Dumbledore was so keen on her taking?" Minerva asked slightly haughtily.

"Of course Minerva, these potions will help Claryssa gain weight until she is the size of a normal 11 year old girl, they are nutritional potions to give her vitamins and minerals and whatever else she may need which will include muscle mass because he believes she isn't as strong as a normal 11 year old girl should be," Snape finished.

"I am just like other girls my age just a little bit smaller so what?" Claryssa asked angrily.

"Claryssa it isn't that he thinks you are abnormal but you need to gain weight until you are at a proper weight or else you could become frail and sickly," Minerva said in a soothing voice.

"Oh…ok," she said resigned and held out her hand for a potion.

"These potions do not taste the best usually so I added something in them and you just open up the vial, say what you want it to taste like and it'll change at your request," Severus told her.

Claryssa thought on that and tried to decide what to make it taste like, "Caramel," Claryssa finally answered when she unstopped the vial and downed it in one go. The potion had a thick consistency, probably because of everything in it, but it tasted just like caramel and she enjoyed it a lot.

"Wise choice, I wouldn't recommend ever choosing sugar flavor though, it tastes awful and it made me puke when I tasted it," Snape said with a disgusted look on his face.

"That's lovely Severus thank you, she hasn't eaten yet and I don't want her getting sick and throwing up this potion," Minerva said with annoyance.

"I was being truthful Minerva but my apologies, Claryssa you are to take this every breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 30 days until you are the size of a normal 11 year old girl," Severus said and then swept out of the room quickly.

"Alrighty then, is it time for breakfast yet?" Claryssa said with hope in her voice.

"Yes it is Claryssa," Minerva answered her and they promptly left their quarters and began the hike down all the stairs. When they got to the Great Hall Claryssa was slightly out of breath again, _I suppose it'll take awhile to get used to all the stairs_ Claryssa thought to herself as they walked in and found one long table at the front of the room. Claryssa followed her guardian all the way up to the table and sat next to her with Dumbledore on Minerva's other side.

Not long after they had sat Claryssa realized the whole table was a buzz with conversations about her and she just focused on her folded hands in her lap. "Everyone please, Claryssa already feels awkward and out of place here, you do not need to make it worse on her, she is a normal student just like those that will be coming in a month's time," Dumbledore said aloud and everyone quieted at once so Claryssa spared a grateful smile at the Headmaster.

Food appeared right in front of her and all along the table and Claryssa was shocked; it must've been obvious because she heard both Minerva and Dumbledore chuckle at her face. So she instantly snapped out of it and began reaching for food only to stop, pull her hands back and ask, "Is it alright if I serve myself or do I need to wait for everyone to serve themselves first?"

"Claryssa you do not need to ask permission here, you eat whatever you want, whenever you want, and do not hesitate to ask any question you may have," Dumbledore said sternly trying to get the point in her head.

"Yes Headmaster, I understand," she said before serving herself some bacon, sausage, and a ham and cheese omelet. She began eating slowly and realized the food there was absolutely delicious, so she increased her intake but got thirsty very quickly.

"What is there to drink?" she asked eying the weird bright orange liquid in her goblet.

"That is called pumpkin juice; it is very similar to your orange juice but made with pumpkin instead," Minerva answered honestly. Claryssa lifted the goblet up and sniffed to find that it smelt slightly of cinnamon and pumpkin pie, she took a small sip and felt the cool, sweet nectar slide down her throat easily.

"This is actually pretty good," she said delightedly and took a larger sip which was more of a gulp than an actual sip.

"Yes we find that almost all of our students and the professors enjoy it," Dumbledore said cheerfully before turning back to his scrambled eggs. Claryssa finished eating before Minerva so she sat back in her chair, drank the rest of her pumpkin juice, and relaxed waiting patiently for her guardian to finish. Ten minutes later Claryssa was on a tour of Hogwarts with Hagrid since Minerva had some preterm work to do that included class schedules and class lessons and she didn't want Claryssa getting ahead of the other students when it came to that.

They were on the grounds and Hagrid was showing her the greenhouses and telling her a little about the subject before she got a brief tour of the one she'd be working in with her fellow first years. From there they moved onto the Quidditch pitch where Madam Hooch just happened to be flying around so she got an explanation of how to play Quidditch and her interest was piqued so she decided to read her Quidditch through the Ages book soon.

Hagrid walked her all the way around the grounds telling her about everything, which included the Great Lake and the Forbidden Forest to the Whomping Willow. Finally they ended up at Hagrid's hut for tea, which Claryssa politely declined seeing as she didn't like tea. She did ask for anything else to drink and he had some Kool-Aid in the fridge which she gladly accepted as well as a rock cake which after an attempted bite in which her tooth almost broke she threw it over her shoulder while he wasn't looking. Fang, Hagrid's boar hound, greedily snatched it up and swallowed it in one bite.

It was lunch time so they walked back up to the castle and sat down for lunch right before Minerva walked in. When she sat down she turned to Claryssa and asked, "Did you enjoy your tour of the grounds?"

"Yes I did, thank you, they are huge and very beautiful," Claryssa said happily before serving herself some chicken tenders, French fries, and a yeast roll with butter. She ate happily not realizing how much the walking had made her hungry, afterwards she greedily drank her juice and then sat back happily.

"Claryssa drink your nutrition potion," Minerva said while handing it to her so Claryssa grabbed it, unstopped it, whispered, "Cotton Candy," and swallowed it in one gulp smiling at the pleasing taste.

"You know you can choose other flavors that do not require a lot of sugar," Minerva said sternly looking at her over her square shaped spectacles which made Claryssa laugh.

"I know but I can't think of any flavor that would taste good as a liquid other than sugary foods," Claryssa said with a smile.

"Perhaps fruits, it'll be like you are drinking a smoothie," Minerva mentioned hoping to get her to drink healthier foods.

"Well I suppose I could but I'd rather have real smoothies," Claryssa said smiling which made Minerva make a mental note to get a blender and some fresh fruit in the fridge for smoothies.

"Well what kinds of fruit do you like Claryssa?" Minerva asked trying to get to know her new charge better.

"Anything but limes, lemons, pomegranates, and grapefruits," Claryssa said, "I've always been a fruit kind of girl, I like very few vegetables," Claryssa finished honestly.

"I see so if I were to get some fruit, you would eat it?" Minerva asked hopefully.

"Oh most definitely," Claryssa said with a laugh, "I love fruit!" she finished.

"Most excellent, I will owl order some as soon as possible," Minerva said promptly.

"That would be lovely thank you," Claryssa said with a smile and then began to daydream.

"Your welcome," her new guardian said before turning back to her lunch and leaving Claryssa to dawdle in daydreams.

After lunch Claryssa went to her room to find something to do until dinner while Minerva continued her preterm work. She decided to read a book and decided now would be a perfect time to learn more about the wizarding world. She chose Hogwarts A History as her first book to read so she could try to learn more about her new school and home. She sat down in her comfy office chair with the book on the table and opened up to the Table of Contents, there were 15 chapters, each with an interesting title to keep her mind wondering what she would find out next. She opened up to the first chapter which was about The Four Founders: Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin. It talked about their traits, histories, hobbies, and anything you'd want to know and their decision to open up a school together. Claryssa found this chapter fascinating and ate up every little thing about them.

By dinner time she had finished the first 3 chapters and was irritated that her reading had been interrupted, Claryssa had always gotten irritated if she was really interested in something she was reading and got interrupted. So she took her strawberry flavored nutrition potion and ate her steak and garlic mashed potatoes with gusto, chugged down her pumpkin juice and pulled the book back out of her Lily bag and began reading again. Dumbledore and McGonagall chuckled lightly to one another at her obvious interest in reading about Hogwarts and then turned back to their meals happily.

Back in their quarters Minerva and Claryssa sat at their table having ice-cream sundaes and talking, well more like Claryssa drilling her guardian with questions and Minerva answering back as honestly as possible. Claryssa had chosen vanilla ice-cream with hot caramel and cherries on top while Minerva had chosen vanilla ice-cream with hot fudge and nuts on top. "When did my parents first fall in love?" Claryssa asked curiously.

"Well James, your father, fell in love with your mother the moment he saw her, he spent all 7 years at Hogwarts trying to impress her and ask her out but Lily hated his cocky attitude. He spent too much time talking about how good he was at Quidditch and how good of a boyfriend he would be to her but she wouldn't have it, she actually hated him until the end of their 6th year. That's when Lily's grandmother fell ill and somehow he was there to comfort her and be a good supportive friend and I think that's when she stopped hating him and began liking him as a person. Lily's grandmother, Gardenia, died in the middle of the summer and he came and visited her to help her through it, they fell more and more in love everyday they spent together. So naturally at the start of term of their 7th year James asked her out and she finally said yes after years of rejection. They were almost inseparable after that and it was obvious to everyone that they were in love and in it for the long run. Her parents, Richard and Chrysanthemum, loved James and so they married the summer after they graduated and the rest is history," Minerva finished her story with a dreamy look on her face.

"Wow so my dad thought he was better than everyone else?" Claryssa said not wanting to believe it.

"Oh no, he just boasted about his Quidditch skills almost every time she was around which coincidentally I was too seeing as we were best friends, yes I knew though she secretly acted as if she hated him all the time, she really was impressed with James and it made her mad for liking someone so full of himself. It used to make me laugh those two bickering all the time, it was quite amusing," Minerva said with a laugh to herself.

"It sounds like it," Claryssa said with a returning smile at how honest her guardian was being with her.

They finished up their sundaes and went their separate ways, Claryssa back to her room in which she read some more and Minerva to her study to get a little reading in of her own. The book she was reading however was called Advanced and Complex Transfiguration. The spells inside this book would throw Claryssa's young mind into a tizzy, this was stuff even a 7th year might have some issues with.

The next morning Claryssa woke up again fully refreshed and smiling, she ran into her bathroom to take a quick shower, brushed her hair and blow dried it, and got completely ready for the day. She then walked into the kitchen to find her nutrition potion ready for her, she whispered a quick, "Peaches," and then drank the vial.

"See I told you there were things other than sugary foods you could use," Minerva said as she walked into the kitchen brushing her hair, which was actually quite long when not in the tight bun, it was almost to the bottom of her back.

"Yes you did and you're right for the most part…see fruit has natural sugars in it so they are still sugary, they are just good for you," Claryssa said smartly.

"Why yes you are quite right, they are indeed sugary but it's sugar that's good for you," Minerva agreed.

"Yes I know, which is another reason why I like fruit is, it's sweet, delicious, and it's good for you," Claryssa told her.

"Me too," Minerva said with a smile as she put her hair up into her usual bun and then led the way down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

For breakfast Claryssa ate a banana and bowl of Captain Crunch Berries cereal, it was one of her favorites so she ate happily and slowly. She decided to have a glass of Strawberry milk instead of Pumpkin juice and she wasn't the first to finish eating for once. Snape was the first to finish eating and he swept very quickly out of the Great Hall as if he had something more important to do. Claryssa just shrugged it off seeing as she barely knew the man but she caught a slight worried look exchange between Dumbledore and McGonagall. _I guess he doesn't usually leave so quickly or something_ Claryssa thought to herself but again shrugged it off.

"Claryssa what do you plan to do today?" Minerva asked curiously.

"I hadn't really thought about it but I guess I'll explore the castle a bit," Claryssa said.

"That is fine Claryssa but I must warn you, the castle is full of surprises so please be careful and try not to get lost," Dumbledore said.

"I'll try not to; do you guys by chance have a map?" Claryssa asked hopefully with a small laugh.

"A map of Hogwarts would be very large seeing as there are 7 floors, an Astronomy tower, and dungeons, so no, we do not," Dumbledore said thoughtfully.

"Well shucks, that sucks," Claryssa said a little bummed, "Oh well I'll have to do without see you guys at lunch," she finished before getting up and walking towards the entrance of the Great hall.

"Do you think she will be fine on her own in this big old castle?" Minerva asked nervously.

"Minerva she'll be fine, she's James' daughter after all, and if I do say so myself motherly concern is very becoming of you," Dumbledore said with a chuckle.

"Yes James was very good with navigating the castle even though most of it was at night and against the rules. Well she is my charge, I must treat her as if she is my own and I care about her, she is also Lily's daughter and I promised Lily I would take care of Claryssa," Minerva said trying to justify herself.

"Yes and you will do splendidly dear, now if you'll please excuse me I have some last minute work to do," he said and then swept gracefully out of the room. Minerva went upstairs to her quarters and began writing more lesson plans thinking about her best friend.

Claryssa decided to explore the dungeons first so she went upstairs and got her cloak that Amos had gotten her and then was back down on the ground floor by the time Dumbledore had left the Great Hall. She walked down the dungeon stairs and began looking for rooms to explore. She easily found the Potions classroom seeing as it was the first door on the left as soon as you stepped off the stairs. Across from it was a door with a placard that said it was Snape's office so she steered clear of it. She found a Potions lab nearby which she could tell hadn't been used in quite sometime, the cauldrons were covered in dust and the tables and chairs were old and creaky. It looked as if it hadn't been used in at least 10 years.

Claryssa saw a closet right next to where she was standing in the room and went to explore, she found some Potions ingredients in a jar and they didn't sound familiar and she looked all over the apothecary when she had gone shopping so she stuck them in her Lily bag for later inspection and then continued her search of the closet. She found two other abandoned jars of Potions ingredients and put them all in her bag for later inspection. She then left the room and began looking around again. She found many empty rooms and many abandoned Potions labs, she even found a portrait of a dragon breathing fire which she guessed was either Snape's quarters or the Slytherin dormitory. Another portrait she found was of a pretty woman with long silky blonde hair and a very sweet demeanor, "Who are you?" Claryssa asked curiously.

"I am Eileen Prince, my family is very old and very rich, we are all purebloods but I decided to marry a muggle. I am not like my family, I do not treasure my life over everyone else's, and I believe we are all equal but my family does not. I bore one son, Severus Snape; his father, Maximus, was abusive to both of us which made me ill and sickly. I died when my son was entering his 6th year but he painted this portrait when he was 13 before I became ill. He's very talented in many things my son is but he does not know how to love anymore, he loved someone once but she broke his heart and he never loved again, it made me sad to know of it when he first told me. He used to have me hung up in his room in our manor but after his father died of poisoning Severus left our manor and became the Potions Master here and now he has me posted to watch over his quarters here," the pretty woman finished.

"Wow you are gorgeous, too bad Snape didn't look more like you when he was born, he looks so angry and sulky all the time, not to mention his pallid skin makes him look ill," Claryssa said honestly.

"He looks just like his father except for his skin, that pale skin is all he got from me but I loved him all the same, even when looking into his Onyx eyes so much like his father except he always looked at me in a tender loving way, like a son should look at his mother. His father always had a cold and angry look at his eyes when he looked at me, especially after Severus' letter came and we had to tell him the truth. That's when the abuse began, Maximus believed that witches and wizards were evil so he began to hate us; he made sure no one found out about our magic though, to protect himself," Eileen told her truthfully.

"I know how that is," Claryssa told her truthfully and went into the story about what she suffered at the hands of her uncle.

"You poor child, how did you deal with it all and be able to talk about it so willingly?" Eileen asked.

"It isn't without great difficulty if you couldn't tell with me getting choked up about certain parts of my story, I just think that if I talk about it more than maybe I can get over it," Claryssa answered truthfully.

"You are a brave girl, do whatever you can to get over it, do not bottle it up and let it get the best of you like my son, it is part of the reason he is how he is today, be strong Claryssa Potter and overcome it," Eileen told her.

"How did you know my name?" Claryssa asked shocked.

"Though I am just a portrait I am up to date on everything that has happened since my death, your story is a tragic one but I believe you have what it takes to be a great witch like your mother and father," Eileen said.

"Thank you so much and also I must thank you for all of your information, I am sorry that you had to deal with what you did and I do hope death has treated you better," Claryssa said.

"Yes death is more peaceful and it gives me time to get over everything I went through and watched that man do to my son," Eileen informed her.

"How did you get over it?" Claryssa asked sadly.

"I have had many years to get over it, my son is now 35 so I have had 19 years to get rid of the memories to the best of my ability," she told Claryssa earnestly.

"Yes 19 years would be a good amount of time to do that," Claryssa agreed.

"Yes it is but you better get going dear, I hear my son coming and he might get angry, it is also almost time for lunch," Eileen told her.

"Well thank you so much, I'll try to see you again sometime," Claryssa answered her with a smile.

"Your welcome, I will look forward to your next visit," Eileen said and then Claryssa slipped into a nearby open door to hide.

"Hello mother, Dragon's Blood," Snape said and then the portrait opened to reveal his quarters.

_Well if that's Snape's quarters than the Dragon breathing fire portrait must be the Slytherin's common room_ Claryssa thought and then made her way back to the Entrance hall to head for lunch. She got there just in time for the food to be served and she rushed to go sit down, she was hungry from her long conversation with Eileen.

"Have a good time Claryssa?" Minerva asked curiously looking oddly at the cloak around Claryssa's neck.

"Oh yes the dungeons are actually quite interesting even though they are very cold," Claryssa answered while answering the unasked question about the cloak.

Snape walked in to sit down right as Claryssa was piling food onto her plate; she grabbed two slices of Pepperoni pizza and two cheesy garlic breadsticks and then decided to have a root beer with it instead of pumpkin juice again. She ate happily, enjoying all the great food she got to eat here and thinking how much better her life was now that she was away from her uncle and it hadn't even been a week yet since she woke up in the hospital.

When she was done she drank her banana flavored nutrition potion and then went back to exploring the dungeons. They weren't as large as she thought they would be and she finished exploring them an hour before dinner so she went back up to her room and decided to draw. While in the dungeons she found what looked like a torture chamber way in the farthest dungeon away from the stairs. It scared her and she wondered what it was doing in a school but she remembered reading in her book that this school was over a thousand years old. Things were different back then and it was the farthest room away from the stairs and it wasn't likely that people went anywhere near it at any time so she let it be but decided to leave that particular area of the dungeons alone from then on.

She drew what Snape would've looked like if he looked more like his mother, the hooked nose was smaller and not as hooked, the skin was still pale seeing as she had no idea what color Snape's father's skin was, his eyes were her dark blue, his hair was still black but it wasn't as greasy, it looked more like a silky black, but his facial structure was more or less the same so as not to change him completely. She thought he looked much kinder like this and not as brooding even though there was a slight frown on his face. This is the Snape she would think of when his brooding attitude was too much, a softer more kinder looking Snape just like his mother so that his attitude wouldn't upset her. She stuck the newly titled 'Kinder Snape' picture in her Potions folder so that she could compare the two Snapes whenever it was needed and then made her way down to dinner.

Claryssa walked in and glanced briefly at her Potions Master and wished that his life had been better thinking maybe he would be kinder if it had been. She sat down and grabbed a pork chop, a buttered croissant roll, and some salad with Sesame dressing and began eating. When she was done eating, she finished drinking her Cherry Coke and then drank her cherry flavored nutrition potion. When she was finished she and Minerva went back to their quarters and they went their separate ways, Minerva to read more of her book and Claryssa to read the last three chapters of Hogwarts A History. When Claryssa had finished her book she put it on her bookshelf with a smile, she had found the book very fascinating and had learned quite a few things from it about Hogwarts and its secrets.

The next book she chose to read was Quidditch Through the Ages seeing as she found Madam Hooch's spiel interesting and also the idea of her father playing Quidditch piqued her interest even more. She had read the first five chapters and then decided to finally go to bed, so she marked her spot, put the book in her Lily bag, turned out the lights, and then went to sleep dreaming of Quidditch.

Claryssa's daily schedule became quite a routine; she'd wake up, get ready for the day, and then go eat breakfast. After Breakfast she would explore some part of the castle until lunch and then go and eat lunch. After lunch she would either continue exploring that part of the castle or she would go back to her quarters and either read or draw until dinner and then she would eat dinner. After dinner she and Minerva would go back to their quarters talk a bit and then go do their own things.

By the end of the month Claryssa had read all of the books Dumbledore had given her and quite a few others which included both the muggle Fairy tales and the Wizard Fairy tales and they were both interesting reads for her. She enjoyed reading all of her books and she loved gaining new knowledge about the wizarding world.

She had visited Snape's mother once a week since she met her and found out more about Eileen and Severus both. She found out more about her parents from Minerva and a little more about her story from both Dumbledore and Minerva. She had also visited Hagrid a couple of afternoons instead of exploring, reading, or drawing. She found out more about him and his interesting hobby of collecting dangerous or as he would put it, seriously misunderstood creatures. Which is what brought her to reading and finishing the book he had given her Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

She found herself missing Cedric more and more everyday, she hadn't realized just how much his company had become so normal that she missed him when he wasn't around. It got to the point where she was counting down the days until she could see him again. As the end of the month drew closer she found her self anticipating the start of term when she would be able to be sorted into her house and become an official student at Hogwarts, she wanted to learn and be a witch and make new friends. She was excited about everything that was coming and sometimes she couldn't control herself and she'd cry of happiness of finally belonging to a world, a special world.

Finally the night before she would be riding the train to Hogwarts as a student had come, Dumbledore and Minerva had decided that she would spend the night at her aunt's place, be given a ride to King's Cross Station, and then get on the train to ride to Hogwarts. Claryssa had her drawing kit with her which had become to look a little grim, her colored pencils were getting very short and she was running out of paper. She brought the book she was presently reading, The Book of Modern Astronomy, which she actually thought was kind of interesting now that she was actually reading it but she knew it would not be close to one of her favorite classes. She had her trunk with all of her school things and most of her clothes; she had Hedwig with her, and anything else she'd need to look like a normal student.

When she got to her Aunt's house her aunt already had dinner on the table and to her surprise her cousin was sitting at the table. When she walked into the kitchen her aunt bustled over to hug her and Dudley stood up and shook her hand which surprised her. What surprised her even more is when Dudley said, "Claryssa, I'm sorry for everything I have ever put you through and I'm especially sorry I helped my dad put you through so much pain," making her jaw drop, he'd never apologized about anything.

"It's ok Dudley, let's just try to be friends from now on," Claryssa said.

"That sounds good to me," he said with a smile and they all sat down to eat Chicken noodle casserole with their choice of drink. Dudley chose Iced Tea, Claryssa chose Mountain Dew, her favorite soda, and Aunt Petunia chose Raspberry Lemonade. When they were done with dinner they had Apple Pie for dessert, which was Claryssa's favorite type of pie, she then took her final nutrition potion since she was now very close to the size of a normal 11 year old girl and then Aunt Petunia told her the story of how the courts officially ruled that it was ok for her to keep Dudley. It seemed though that since Vernon was no longer allowed near the property, she had to get a job to support her son and herself and the government would send her a $1000 check in the mail monthly for living expenses of any kind for having kept Claryssa as long as she did.

She was currently working at a big office building as a receptionist so she was doing fairly well on her own but the monthly check would help a lot to keep them living as they used to. Claryssa offered her congrats and then made her way up to her dreaded room, thinking she was about to go in remission of her memories. However when she opened the bedroom door, it was cleaned and refurnished. The carpet she could tell had been replaced because it felt like different material but looked the same, her old bed had been thrown out and replaced with a cute little iron framed daybed, with a purple floral pattern bedspread and comforter. The book shelf on the wall had been filled with more books for Claryssa to take with her to Hogwarts so her collection of books was now up to 50 and the genres of the books were mixed and varied which brought her up to a total of 5 Gardening books.

On the wall opposite her bookshelf wall was an art easel with canvases and different paints in the tray, which she would love to paint with and so she smiled widely. The walls were still white but the baseboards were now purple and there was special wall paint on her now fixed up dresser. The desk had been fixed up and the office chair had been reupholstered so that the seat and backing cushions matched her bedspread and comforter. A new desk lamp with a purple lamp shade had replaced the old one and there sitting on the desk was a large wrapped present confusing Claryssa even more. "What's this Aunt Petunia?" Claryssa asked shocked at everything.

"I haven't been able to give you what I wanted to in the past because of your uncle so I'm going to make up for it as much as I can now when you are here," Petunia told her honestly.

"That's lovely Aunt Petunia, thank you," Claryssa answered happily, "What's the wall paint for?" she asked.

"It's so that you can paint your own walls with whatever drawings and decorations you want," Petunia answered with a loving smile.

"You mean it?! I can actually paint the walls and stuff?" Claryssa asked excitedly.

"Yes dear you may, on one condition," her aunt said with a joking smile on her face.

"What's that?" Claryssa asked curiously hoping it wasn't something too bad.

"I want you to paint something on my wall and Dudley's too so we can be reminded of how special and talented you are," her aunt answered lovingly.

"No problem, I'll get started with your wall first so go entertain yourself with something and I'll let you know when I'm done," Claryssa said happily and grabbed her paints and painting supplies and rushed to her aunt's room.

It took her a little over an hour to finish her project in her aunt's room and then went on to Dudley's. He was on his computer killing aliens when she walked in, "Hey Dudley, what do you want me to paint on your wall?" Claryssa asked.

"What can you draw and paint?" he asked with a shrug.

"Pretty much anything you can think of," she said and then showed him her sketch book of all the more guyish things she could draw.

"You drew all of these?" he asked surprised at her artistic abilities.

"Uh…yeah I have been drawing since I was five so I have a lot of practice but I couldn't really show my skills off in front of your dad or he might've forbid me to draw again," she explained.

"You're really good Claryssa, I wish I could draw like that," he complimented her making her blush slightly; he had never been so nice either.

"Well thank you," she said with an embarrassed laugh, "So what do you want on your wall?" she asked trying to get back to the topic at hand.

"Can you do a battlefield scene between Dragons and Aliens?" he asked hopefully.

"Well I've never drawn them together before but I have drawn them separately, I'll try to do as best as I can but I can't guarantee it'll be perfect," she said slightly doubting her abilities as an artist.

"I think you will do great if you can paint as well as you can draw," he said with a smile and then left his room allowing her, her privacy.

Claryssa began her first attempt at a battle scene with great difficulty, she ended up taking three hours to complete the project and it actually turned out quite well, for it being her first attempt.

"Aunt Petunia, I'm done with both yours and Dudley's rooms," she yelled down the stairs and both her aunt and Dudley met her at the top of the stairs happily.

"Claryssa how about you open your present first before we look at them ok?" Petunia asked and Claryssa shrugged her shoulders and then led them into her room.

"Consider this your going away to school present from the both of us," Petunia said.

"Or just a very late birthday gift," Dudley cut in with a smile.

"Alrighty then, how about I consider it as both?" Claryssa said with a laugh and then began unwrapping her present. The first thing she saw when she opened it was a purple reusable film camera and a package of 5 unused films and she put one in the camera and then put it aside. She opened it the rest of the way, gasped and froze with her jaw dropped, there in front of her was a complete art kit. It had a lot of paper, colored pencils, chocks, pastels, charcoals, crayons, and markers for drawing or coloring. It had 3 different sketch books all of different sizes, one very large, one medium, and one rather small about the size of a normal notebook. The kit also had paint brushes, watercolor paints, oil paints, metallic paints, and any other type of paint, she could ever want. There was a smaller wrapped package which she opened to find a pack of new pencils and a small sketch pad, about half the size of a normal notebook, which could fit in her purse easily.

"Oh My God!" Claryssa exclaimed, "I Love it, thank you so much guys," she finished and began to cry happy tears.

"Your welcome," her aunt and cousin answered together and they all gave each other hugs.

After a few minutes Claryssa managed to stop crying and they grabbed the camera to go look at the rooms. First was Petunia's, they opened the door and right on the pastel pink wall above her aunt's bed was a beautifully painted bouquet of pink Petunia flowers with a red heart background. "Oh Claryssa, it's lovely," her aunt exclaimed happily and squeezed her niece to her.

"Well I thought it'd be perfect for you Aunt Petunia," she said with a smile and then snapped a picture of it.

Next it was Dudley's room and she was prepared for whatever response he gave her, either it sucked or he loved it. They opened the door and on the only plain wall in the room there was, was a vicious battle scene between large flame breathing dragons of all different colors and little green and blue aliens with laser beam guns. Claryssa who personally preferred dragons crafted it so that the Dragons were winning the battle, which seemed more likely to her anyways. "Claryssa, it's amazing, I absolutely love it!" he yelled ecstatically with a giant grin on his face making Claryssa grin from ear to ear, she was relieved he liked it. She took a few pictures of it at different angles so she could capture everything in photos. Then it was time for her room, and she quickly said good bye to her family and began to form ideas for her walls.

When she was done there was colorful flowers all over her walls, she had a Gardenia to resemble her mother's grandmother on the wall next to the door above her dresser, a Chrysanthemum to resemble her mother's mother on the wall next to her bookshelf and above the side of her bed, and a Lily to resemble her own mother on the wall above her desk and bed. Next to the Lily for her mother she also painted a picture of a snitch to resemble her father but it more closely resembled the size of a Quaffle since Snitches are usually so small. On the last wall she had a mirage of different colorful wild flowers, which she included a Petunia to resemble her aunt and a red rose to resemble herself. The whole room had taken her three hours and by this time, it was midnight and she was very tired so she snapped pictures of everything she could, including her new and improved room.

She packed up her new art kit, camera and film, and all her new books in her trunk and she was surprised at how well they fit in her already full trunk. _It probably has an enchantment on it so it will fit anything and everything in it_, she thought happily and then called in her family again. "My word, I have never seen a prettier room," her aunt said smiling and saw all the flowers symbolizing their dead family members and such making her smile wider. Above every flower and the snitch she had symbolized she had written R.I.P. and the name of the person it was supposed to symbolize and it made her smile to know she was respecting the dead even though she had never known any of them. Above the Petunia and the rose however she had written just Petunia and Claryssa just so every female of the family was symbolized somehow.

"It's really pretty Claryssa, good job," Dudley told her truthfully and patted her on the back, all the niceties her cousin was saying to her was really starting to creep her out because it was so different than his usual behavior.

"Thank you Dudley and Aunt Petunia, I'm really tired though so good night," she told them and changed quickly into her nightgown after they had left and crawled into her new bed, which was actually quite comfortable but not as comfortable as her bed in her quarters at Hogwarts. She still however fell quickly into a deep sleep and luckily escaped nightmares of her past memories in this room. It was most likely because the room looked so different and was a much happier and more comfortable place now that her uncle was nowhere near it, but whatever the reason Claryssa was just happy to know she'd finally get treated like a normal girl instead of a freak.

A/N: Ok so I originally wasn't going to make it this long but oh well, I had idea after idea on this chapter once I was actually writing it so I wrote until I felt it was done. So I thought that the idea of having Snape's mom protect his quarters was rather ingenious and unique so I put it in there and had fun with that little dialogue. Before anyone asks, Claryssa still has a lot of difficulty talking about what happened to her but like she said if she talks about it more, she'll learn to accept it better. Anyways I still didn't do the court scene where she testifies against her uncle and that'll come soon enough but I'm not sure when just yet so everyone if you got ideas of how to punish the fat ass let me know. Also I'm having slight difficulties deciding on what house to put Claryssa in so please review with your vote and I will choose based off of them. If you don't really care what house she is in just review anyways so I know what you are thinking about what I have decided to type so far lol. PLEASE everybody; I really want to know what you guys think so far. He he! ^-^


	10. Ch 10: The Train Ride from Platform9 34

A/N: So I find it rather funny that I thought chapter 9 would be my shortest chapter other than the Prologue and chapter 1 seeing as that chapter is extremely short but chapter 9 ended up being my longest chapter yet. Anyways this chapter Claryssa finally gets to get on the train as a real student of Hogwarts, yeah lol! She has gone through so much already and she finally gets to go to school where she obviously will face more trials and tribulations because this is after all based off the Harry Potter books haha. Anyways for all of you wondering Snape at the present moment has no idea about Claryssa and Eileen talking, he actually doesn't even know they have met. The only thing Eileen has said is that she saw Claryssa exploring the dungeons and that she thinks the girl has potential to be a very brilliant student and witch, so that Snape doesn't find out. For those of you wondering Dudley is being nicer to her because with his dad gone he realized just what he was doing and how wrong it was and Petunia helped him realize how wrong it was as well. Also I only got a few reviews talking about what house she should be in so I will base it off of those and mine and my friend Taylor's opinion, who has read my story from the beginning, so sorry if you don't like the house I chose for her. I had this chapter completely typed up the day after I posted the last chapter everything except for the sorting. Only problem is at the beginning of last summer I got a horrible virus that messed up a bunch of things so I had to wipe it and had difficulties getting my backup files back to regular files again but thanks to my husband Kris, and you should be thanking him too lol, he got them back to normal files so that I can continue writing so I'm sorry it took so long but it really wasn't my fault! Now onto Chapter 10. ^-^

Chapter 10: The Train Ride from Platform 9 ¾ and the Sorting

Claryssa woke up at 9:30 and made a mad dash to get ready, she took a very quick shower, used a hair drying charm she had gotten out of the book Prof. Flitwick had given her for her birthday, Simple Charms for the Charming Girl, which dried her hair instantly since she had long mastered it seeing as she used it everyday, and then put her hair into pig tails with matching red bows. She got dressed in a purple ruffled top with a red ribbon that wrapped around the shirt and made a bow right underneath her chest and a pair of new darker blue jeans and a pair of purple shoes with red laces and trim. She ran downstairs and ate her pancakes and sausage with gusto, went and brushed her teeth and then got Dudley to help her carry her trunk downstairs while she held her owl.

They soon loaded everything up into her aunt's car and were on their way to King's Cross Station. They got there with a half hour to go before her train was supposed to leave, so she put her trunk and owl on a trolley, said goodbye to her aunt and cousin and made her way down towards Platforms 9 and 10 hoping to find her Platform. She saw a guard and decided to ask him where it was but she didn't think it would do much since there clearly wasn't a Platform 9 ¾. "Excuse me sir, can you please tell me where I can find Platform 9 ¾?" she asked feeling very stupid.

"9 ¾, Think you're being funny do you?" he said with a scoff and a roll of his eyes and then walked off muttering, "9 ¾."

Claryssa mentally slapped herself in the forehead for even asking, and then walked around and looked again for the non-existent Platform. It wasn't until she heard a red headed woman saying, "It's the same every year, packed with muggles of course, come on Platform 9 ¾ this way," that she snapped out of her embarrassment and went to go follow the red headed family.

She watched as the oldest of the red headed boys ran right through a wall between Platforms 9 and 10 and then blinked in shock. Then the two twin boys argued with their mother about who was who only to be joking around with her in the end and then ran through the wall one after the other. Finally it was the youngest boys turn and Claryssa finally stepped forward to confront her. "Excuse me, can you tell me how to…" she started and pointed towards the wall with her ticket.

"How to get onto the Platform dear, oh not to worry it's Ron's first time too," she said pointing at her son who nodded his head in acknowledgement. "All you have to do is walk straight at the wall between Platforms 9 and 10, best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous," she finished and Claryssa nodded her thanks and then ran straight at the wall waiting for the impact that never came. When she opened her eyes she was on a Platform next to a bright red engine train and a sign that said Platform 9 ¾. She sighed with relief and then smiled nervously looking around at all the families around her; it made her miss hers a bit but she knew she would be taken care of with Minerva.

"Claryssa!" she heard a familiar voice calling her from behind her and turned around to see Cedric smiling at her and she ran up to him and hugged him tight.

"Oh man I missed you, I got kind of lonely without my old daily trips to the park to see you," she said with a laugh.

He laughed back and said, "Yeah I missed you too, I always enjoyed our chats at the park."

Claryssa then turned towards Cecilia and Amos and gave them both a hug, "How did you guys enjoy the rest of your summer?" Claryssa asked.

"It was fine, Cedric was all kinds of excited to be going to school with you finally so we just went along with it waiting ever so impatiently to see you again," Cecilia said.

"How are you doing Claryssa?" Amos asked concerned about her past state.

"I'm doing marvelously, I've been taking a nutrition potion at breakfast lunch, and dinner everyday so that I could become the size of a normal 11 year old girl, last night was my last night of taking it and I feel great. I'm still not the size of a normal 11 year old girl but I'm close enough," she said with a happy giggle.

"That's wonderful, I'm glad you are doing so well, I hope you do well in school and come to visit us on Holiday if they'll let you," Amos said happily and then him and Cedric helped her put her trunk on the train.

She left them on the platform so that they could say their good byes to one another and went in search of a compartment to sit in. She found an empty one and decided to sit there but she couldn't get her trunk up onto the rack, that's when the two red headed twins came up behind her and helped her put it up. "Oh thank you so much, I was afraid I'd never get it up there," she said a little out of breath.

"You are most certainly welcome," they said together making her giggle.

"I'm Claryssa Potter, what are your names?" she asked breathily.

"Merlin's beard, we can't believe we are meeting the famous Claryssa Potter," they said together, "I'm Fred Weasley," the taller twin said, "And I'm George Weasley," the shorter twin said.

"Oh nice to meet you Fred and George," she said happily.

"Nice to meet you too," they said again in unison making her giggle again.

"You are certainly a lot prettier than we expected," Fred said checking her out.

"Yes you are, and you're a lot nicer too," George said.

"Uh thank you I think," she said feeling self-conscious about their looks.

"It's a compliment seriously," they said together and she just nodded in understanding.

"Well we'll see you later, we gotta go say bye to mum you know?" they said in unison and she just waved her good bye and sat down waiting for the train to leave. She decided to read some more since she didn't think it'd be very easy to draw on a train; she'd never been on a train before. When the train emitted a long puff of smoke and began moving she was startled at the sudden jerk of movement.

At that moment the compartment door opened and the youngest red haired boy asked, "Do you mind? Everywhere else is full."

"Oh not at all please," she said and gestured towards the seat across from her.

"I'm Ron Weasley by the way," he said awkwardly, it was obvious he wasn't good with making friends.

"I'm Claryssa, Claryssa Potter," she said with a friendly smile.

His jaw dropped at the mention of her name, "So it's true," he said shocked. "Do you really have the, the…"he stuttered.

"The what?" she asked confused.

And then he whispered, "The scar?" she just laughed at him and lifted up her bangs to show him.

"Wicked!" he exclaimed making her laugh again.

"Am I to expect that reaction from everyone about me being Claryssa Potter?" she asked hoping the answer was no.

"Your story is the most told story of our world so probably," he told her honestly.

"That's what I thought," she groaned loudly.

"You don't like being famous?" he asked her curiously.

"I didn't even know I was famous until about a month ago and that really isn't something I want to be famous for, my parents being killed by a mad raving lunatic dark wizard," she said.

"You're famous Claryssa because you are the only person to ever live through the killing curse, your parents deaths just happen to be tied into part of the story not to mention you somehow brought down the most powerful dark wizard of all time that night," he told her.

"I still don't know how I did survive from all that and I don't know how I killed him or anything, I just don't remember, if I strain sometimes I can come up with a blinding green light, cold evil laughter, and a woman screaming, but that's it," she told him honestly.

"Well the green light was the killing curse, the evil laughing was obviously Voldemort, and the woman screaming must've been your mother," Cedric said from the doorway, he had slipped in sometime during their conversation.

"Cedric, when did you get here?" she asked shocked at his sudden presence.

"I stepped in right after you started groaning about being famous," he said with a laugh.

"How did I not notice you come in?" she asked exasperatedly.

"You were really into the conversation and the door was open so it wasn't very hard," he said.

"Oh ok, well Ron this is Cedric Diggory, Cedric this is Ron Weasley," she said introducing them to one another.

"Nice to meet you," they said together while shaking hands.

They both sat down and began talking amongst themselves, Cedric sitting right next to Claryssa, and Ron sitting in front of her. She put her book up and began a discussion about Quidditch with both guys which lasted them quite a long time. After the train had been moving for about an hour a bushy haired girl walked into the compartment and asked, "Have any of you seen a toad, a boy named Neville's lost one?"

They all replied with a "No" and she joined in on their new conversation about school for a little bit. Not long afterwards a woman with a trolley came in asking, "Anything from the Trolley dears?"

"No thanks I'm all set," Ron said miserably holding up a couple of wrapped sandwiches.

"We'll take the lot," Claryssa said and pulled out a handful of coins and paid the lady for a large serving of every candy on the trolley and everyone dug in.

"My name's Hermione Granger, what are your names?" the bushy haired girl asked.

"This is Ron Weasley, Cedric Diggory, and I'm Claryssa Potter," Claryssa answered while pointing out both guys as she introduced them.

"Holy Cricket, I've read all about you in Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century," Hermione said making Claryssa's eyes widen.

"You've read those books too?" Claryssa asked surprised.

"Oh yes, I'm muggleborn you see so I wanted to learn everything I could about the wizarding world, I've also read Hogwarts A History" she said happily.

"I did too, I didn't even know about myself or my story until about a month ago and since then I've read all I could," Claryssa said and she knew her and Hermione would make great friends.

"Well I better go, Neville's probably freaking out because I haven't returned with news of his toad," she said with a laugh.

"Ok see you at Hogwarts," Claryssa said happily waving at the girl she could see becoming her best friend.

"Yes see you then and also you guys might want to change into your robes, I expect we'll be arriving soon," she said, waved, and then walked out of the compartment closing the door quickly behind her.

"You're a real bookworm aren't you?" Ron asked interestedly.

"Oh yes, you see I was never allowed to read as a child unless it was required for school so when I found out about this world I read all I could. I got quite a few books from the Hogwarts staff members at the birthday party they threw me, and I have read almost every single book on the book shelf I now have at Hogwarts," she told him.

"You're family wasn't very kind to you were they?" he asked, not knowing about how much she had suffered from her uncle's hands.

"Uh…no my uncle and cousin were not but my aunt was for the most part," she said and then left it at that.

Ron noticing how she was quickly becoming uncomfortable decided to avoid the subject from that point forward. "Well I'm sure living at Hogwarts will be a lot better for you, you'll get to read whenever you want, there's a large library, and you can owl order books from Flourish and Blotts whenever you wish," Cedric said smiling.

"Also you could probably borrow books from the professors there too," Ron said adding in his own input.

"Yes that all sounds lovely," she said happily becoming more comfortable with the new conversation. She opened a chocolate frog and her frog jumped out the open window.

"Oh that's rotten luck, you've only got one good jump in them in the beginning, besides it's the cards you want" Ron said as she looked at her card.

"I've got Dumbledore!" Claryssa said excitedly.

"I've got about 6 of him," Ron said as he took a bite of an Ice Mice.

Claryssa looked down at it again to read the card and he had vanished, "Hey he's gone!" she said surprised.

"You can't expect him to hang around all day can you?" Ron said as if this was perfectly normal. Claryssa read the card quickly trying to take in what little information on her Headmaster there was on the card since she didn't know much about him.

"Claryssa, pictures move in the Wizarding world," Cedric said with a laugh and her eyes widened out of surprise.

"Wicked!" Claryssa said excitedly then walked towards the bathroom to change into her robes leaving the guys to change in the compartment. As she passed compartments she peeked in and saw that there would be a lot of students at Hogwarts and she could hopefully make new friends. The last compartment towards the bathroom was inhabited by the blonde boy she met back in Madame Malkin's robe shop and he glanced up and his eyes widen as did his smile confusing Claryssa to no avail. She rushed into the bathroom quickly to change and noticed that her bangs were pushed aside and her scar was showing so she quickly covered it up so she wouldn't get more weird stares and changed into her robes. She made sure she looked good and then she made her way back to her compartment avoiding the blonde boy's compartment as much as possible.

She made it back into her own compartment right as both boys were fixing up their ties. She noticed hers looked horrible and attempted to fix it, _I need to find a charm that will tie it for me_ she thought and decided to look in her Simple Charms for Charming Girls book when she got back home.

"Here let me help you," Cedric said smiling and moved her hands aside and began untying her tie. He retied her tie perfectly and brushed a spare strand of hair behind her ear, "There all better," he said.

"Thank you," she said with a slight blush over her cheeks and they heard Ron clear his throat behind them making them snap out of their own little world.

"So Ron what are your hobbies?" Claryssa asked trying to pick a conversation back up to hopefully make him forget about her and Cedric's little exchange.

"Well my family is full of Quidditch players except for Percy of course, he couldn't stay on a broom if he was glued to it," Ron told her gladly accepting the new conversation.

Claryssa and Cedric laughed and Ron began telling them the whole story of his family and all the Quidditch players and such.

"I'm the Seeker for Hufflepuff you know," Cedric told them happily.

"Oh well I'll make sure to root for you during games," Claryssa said with a laugh. Why didn't you tell me earlier you played Quidditch?" Claryssa asked.

"Well I couldn't really tell you about the wizarding world until you got your letter and were explained about yourself and after that you went straight to Hogwarts so I didn't really have time," he explained.

"Oh yeah I guess you're right, there really hasn't been much time for us to talk since my birthday party," Claryssa said truthfully.

"So how long have you guys known each other?" Ron asked curiously.

"Um…about 2 ½ months I'd say," Claryssa guessed and Cedric just nodded his head in agreement.

"That's nice though, how did your other friends take it that you were going off to a school that they could know nothing about?" Ron asked.

"Oh I didn't have any other friends, my cousin Dudley made sure of that," Claryssa said irritably.

"How did he manage to keep people away?" Ron asked confused.

"He's a few inches taller than me and he's 4 times wider, he's intimidating because he is so big and he is a big bully. Everyone is afraid of Dudley and his gang, they all team up to beat up people and their favorite punching bag was usually me, if they could catch me I'm a very quick runner," Claryssa said with a laugh.

"That's completely understandable for them to want to stay away then but it totally sucks," Ron said.

"Yeah but I got used to it when we started Kindergarten and he'd throw blocks at anyone who would talk to me," Claryssa said annoyed.

"Wow your cousin was a douche bag," Ron said understanding her annoyance.

"Yes he was but he's different now for some reason, he was being nice to me last night while I was at my aunt's house," Claryssa said.

"Well that's good, you didn't have another episode did you?" Cedric asked concerned.

"No I did not, my aunt surprised me by redecorating my room there so when I do spend the night I have a real room now," Claryssa said with a small smile.

"That's good," Cedric said and then just shook his head no so Ron wouldn't ask what they were talking about.

That's when the train began slowing down and so they started getting their stuff together to get off the train. When they were getting off the train Cedric told her, "We have to go separate ways you and Ron go left when we get off and I have to go to the right, I'll see you in the castle."

"Oh ok then, I'll see you later," she told him with a smile and they went in their opposite directions.

"Firs' years this way, all firs' years follow me," she heard a familiar voice yelling across the train station and she followed it excitedly.

"Heya Hagrid," Claryssa said happily as she neared the gentle giant.

"Oh hello Claryssa, did ya enjoy the train ride?" he said happily seeing her smiling face.

"Oh yes it was quite fun," she said with another smile.

"Whoa!" Ron said surprised looking at the massive sized man in front of him. Claryssa giggled at his reaction and then all the first years followed Hagrid towards the lake.

"Alrigh' firs' years, no more than four to a boat," Hagrid boomed so everyone could hear once they reached the edge of the lake. Everybody clambered into the nearest boat with Hagrid in one by himself at the front of the mini boat brigade and they were off drifting across the Great Lake.

Claryssa had never fully seen Hogwarts from the outside, she could only see some of it from the grounds that she had explored, so she was so excited and couldn't wait to see the full view she was shaking with anticipation.

"Everyone duck when we get to the curtain o' Ivy there, don' wanna be itchin' your firs' week o' school," Hagrid said with a chuckle. As everyone passed through the curtain they all ducked heeding his warning.

When they looked up they were in a tunnel _Wow everything is so magical_ Claryssa thought to herself with a dreamy smile.

"Alrigh' now when we pass through this next curtain you'll get your firs' glimpse o' Hogwarts," Hagrid said loudly to everyone and everyone leaned forward with excitement.

When they went through the next curtain of Ivy, in which everyone ducked again, they were all shocked with the outside look of Hogwarts; it was a large castle on the edge of a cliff with large grounds and a forest around it. A loud and astounded "Wow" was heard from everyone at the glimpse, Claryssa memorized the scene for later art projects and snapped a picture just in case. When they reached the other side the boats lurched to a stop and everybody clamored off and onto the shore right underneath the shadow of the castle.

"Alrigh' everyone follo' me," Hagrid said and beckoned everyone forward with his massive hands. They all walked behind him up to the massive double doors, they walked in and he kept them all huddled up in the Entrance Hall waiting for what was next. "Professor McGonagall will be ou' shortly bu' I have to go, welcome t' Hogwarts and I hope ya'll enjoy the Sortin'" Hagrid said and walked through the double doors that led into the Great Hall.

"So it's true what they were saying on the train, Claryssa Potter has come to Hogwarts," the blonde boy with a pointed face said in his slow drawl of a voice as he looked at Claryssa. A whisper of "Claryssa Potter?" went through the group of first years at that. "This is Crabbe and Goyle," he said pointing out his bodyguards. "And I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy," he finished. Ron snorted next to her. "Think my name's funny do you? No need to ask yours Red hair and a hand me down robe, you must be a Weasley. You'll soon find out that other families are better than others Potter, you don't wanna go making friends with the wrong sort, I can help you there," Draco said while nodding towards Ron and holding out his hand.

"I think I can decide who's the wrong sort by myself thank you," Claryssa said cooly.

"Be careful Potter, you might just regret that," Malfoy said as he walked back to his original spot.

Professor McGonagall walked out a few minutes later with a scroll of parchment in her hand. "Welcome to Hogwarts first years, Hogwarts will be your home for the next 7 years so I hope you get comfortable here. In a moment I will take you through these doors and you will be sorted into your houses. Now while you are here your house will be like your family, your triumphs will gain you points, any rule breaking and you will lose points. The house names are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, now if you follow me through these doors you will be sorted in front of the entire school," she said. Everyone around her was nervous as was Claryssa as they followed her guardian into the Great Hall. The Great Hall was different than she last saw it, instead of just the long table at the front for the teachers there was also 4 long tables across the floor, one for each house. Claryssa and her peers walked up the center isle following her guardian and all gathered round an old stool with an old, warn, and patched up black wizard's hat on top.

The whole student body was staring at the hat so Claryssa followed suit and was pleasantly surprised when it twitched and a rip near the brim opened wide like mouth and the hat began to sing:

_Oh you may not think me pretty,But don't judge on what you see,I'll eat myself if you can findA smarter hat than can keep your bowlers black,Your top hats sleek and tall,For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting HatAnd I can cap them 's nothing hidden in your headThe Sorting Hat can't see,So try me on and I will tell youWhere you ought to ,Where dwell the brave at heart,Their daring, nerve, and chivalrySet Gryffindors apart;You might belong in Hufflepuff,Where they are just and loyal,Those patient Hufflepuffs are trueAnd unafraid of toil;Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,if you've a ready mind,Where those of wit and learning,Will always find their kind;Or perhaps in SlytherinYou'll make your real friends,Those cunning folks use any meansTo achieve their put me on! Don't be afraid!And don't get in a flap!You're in safe hands (though I have none)For I'm a Thinking Cap!_

The whole room broke into applause after the hat finished it's song and it bowed to each of the four houses and then became still again.

"Now when I call your name, you will sit on the stool, place the Sorting hat onto your head and you shall be sorted into your houses," Minerva said as she unrolled the piece of parchment. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment later the hat yelled, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table, Claryssa glanced over and noticed Cedric shake Hannah's hand and welcome her to Hufflepuff, before he looked up and winked at her sending a small blush across her cheeks.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!" The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Claryssa could see Ron's twin brothers catcalling and she rolled her eyes.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became the first Slytherin. Perhaps it was Claryssa's imagination, after all she had heard and read about Slytherin, but she thought they looked like an unpleasant lot.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Claryssa noticed how sometimes the hat shouted out the house at once but at others it took a little while. "Finnigan, Seamus," the sandy-haired boy next to Claryssa in line, sat on the stool for a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat and Ron groaned.'

When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide on Neville. When it finally shouted GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it and had to run back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag" who became a Ravenclaw.

Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"

Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle looking pleased with himself.

There weren't very many people left now.

"Moon, Jasmine" became Hufflepuff. "Nott, Theodore" became a Slytherin as did "Parkinson, Pansy". Next a pair of twin girls, "Patil, Padma" became Ravenclaw and "Patil, Parvati" became Gryffindor and ran over to sit next to her friend Lavender Brown. "Perks, Sally-Anne became Ravenclaw, and then at last-

"Potter, Claryssa!"

As Claryssa stepped forth, whispers broke out across the hall.

"Did she say Potter?"

"_The_ Claryssa Potter?" were the ones she heard the most. The last thing she saw before the hat dropped over her eyes was everyone in the hall craning their necks to get a good look at her.

"Hmm," said a small voice in her ear. "Difficult. Very Difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. A sweet, caring, and compassionate personality. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes- and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting…So where shall I put you? You'd do so well in all four houses," the small voice said in an interested tone.

Claryssa gripped the stool and thought, _Not Slytherin, not Slytherin._

"Not Slytherin, eh? said the small voice. "Are you sure? You could be great you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to Greatness, no doubt about that- no? Well if you're sure- better be "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Claryssa took the hat off and shakily made her way over to the Hufflepuff table, she sat down next to Cedric and breathed a sigh of relief. "Well done," he smiled and whispered to her quietly.

Claryssa could only nod her thanks as her heart rate went down quickly and she heard someone yelling, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

There were now only four people left to be sorted now. "Thomas, Dean," a black boy even taller than Ron became a Gryffindor and sat next to Seamus Finnigan. "Turpin, Lisa," became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. A second later the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR" and Ron sighed in relief and walked over to the Gryffindor table to join his brothers. The last student, "Zambini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

"Welcome Students to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to make a few beginning of term announcements." Dumbledore said to the hall. "First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils and a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch."

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death." Dumbledore said.

"That's odd he usually gives a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere," Cedric said quietly. Claryssa just but her lip trying to remember if they had mentioned anything to her about it but came up with a blank.

Everyone forgot about that last warning as food appeared in front of everybody and they started piling foods onto their golden plates. Claryssa smiled up at Dumbledore and Minerva when she saw that barbeque ribs and everything else from their dinner with her aunt was available to eat, they just smiled back and then returned to their food. Claryssa grabbed a barbeque rib, a scoop of garlic mashed potatoes, a dinner roll and buttered it, a few chicken wings with ranch dressing, and a corn on the cob and began eating happily. "So Cedric did anything exciting happen during the rest of your summer while I was here?" Claryssa asked.

"Your aunt showed up on our doorstep with a homemade apple pie and thanked us for our kindness towards you. She had dinner with us and we talked about ideas for your room at her house, I suggested the purple since I knew it was your favorite color. We had her apple pie for dessert and it was amazing, your aunt sure can bake," he finished.

"Oh wow I knew she had though about visiting you guys but I didn't know she actually did, she never said anything. Thanks for suggesting the purple, the room wouldn't have been _as _perfect without it. Yes she can and she taught me how to bake a couple things I can try to bake you something sometime if you want," Claryssa smiled.

"That isn't necessary but you can if you want, and your welcome I knew you'd love the purple." he replied smiling.

"Well I took some pictures of the room, I'll show you when I get the film developed," Claryssa said and she continued telling him of the beauty of the room and the painting of the walls she had done while they ate until dessert appeared. She instantly grabbed a piece of peach cobbler again smiling at the two teachers before grabbing a piece of chocolate cake with mint frosting, she slowly ate her desserts and gulped down her third goblet of pumpkin juice before relaxing and waiting for the feast to end.

When everyone was finished and sleepy Dumbledore stood up again and the hall went silent, "Now that we have had a delightful feast, I bid you all good night and hope you are ready for your lessons in the morning. Timecards will be passed out tomorrow morning at breakfast and then you will go to your first lesson. Prefects will lead the first years to their dorms, sleep well everyone," he finished and everyone got up to leave.

"First years follow me," a 6th year boy by the name of Kristopher Watkins said loudly and Claryssa made her way towards him.

"Stay close first years we don't want you getting lost," a kind looking 6th year girl named Kirstin Rosemont said and the first year Hufflepuffs followed the two prefects up to the fourth floor and to a passageway to the right of the Hospital Wing. At the end of the passageway was a painting of a busty woman with a kind face, blue eyes, and honey blonde hair in a sky blue dress underneath the painting there was a placard that read Helga Hufflepuff.

"Password?" Helga said in bubbly and sweet voice, she sounded extremely motherly and Claryssa liked her instantly.

"Gaudium" Kirstin said smiling and Helga swung open to reveal a portrait hole. They all climbed in and when they reached the other end they were in a giant common room. It was decorated in all yellow and black, Claryssa hated yellow and thought it'd be better if it were some other color like purple, red, green, or blue but she knew red, green, and blue were used for the other houses. There was a nice comfy fire with plush arm chairs and couches all around it, they were varied between black and a kind of golden yellow which Claryssa didn't mind as much as the bright yellow of the walls. There were a few tables around the place with chairs so you could sit and study in a group or by yourself. There was a notice board right next to them with some notices already on it, and a nice clear corner with a radio on a shelf, Claryssa could only think that it was used for dancing which seemed odd to have in a school dorm but shrugged her shoulders liking the idea.

"Boys dormitory is to your right, girls to your left," Kristopher said encouragingly and the first years dispersed to their rightful dorms. When Claryssa walked into the room there were four, four-poster beds in the square room, one in each corner. They were decorated with black sheets and velvet curtains that were the same golden yellow as the couches downstairs. Their trunks were already at the end of their beds, hers and Jasmine's were in the left two corners and Susan's and Hannah's were to the right. In the center of the room was a heater for cold and wet days to dry their clothes. She walked over to her bed and dug out a pair of pink cotton pajama shorts and the matching tank top, got dressed quickly, and climbed into her bed. Being too tired to talk to anyone she just rolled over and curled up in a ball and fell into a peaceful and dreamless sleep.

A/N: Ok so just to clarify I mostly used the book for the sorting but added a few changes, there was a large group of students J.K. didn't tell us what house they were in so I put the ones I knew into their proper houses and made up one for the ones that are never mentioned in the story after the Sorting. Moon was not given a gender or a name so I decided to give them both lol. I equally divided the unknown females, so there are 4 Ravenclaw females and 4 Hufflepuff females. Also I'm sorry if you don't like the house I picked for her but that seemed to be the one that got voted the most including my friend Taylor's opinion and she also chose Hufflepuff so Claryssa could be closer to Cedric. J Since not much is known about the Hufflepuff house I just winged it including the names of the prefects, I actually used mine and my husband's first names for them and made up last names haha. So this is only a page shorter than chapter 9 but still I enjoy long chapters, I hope you do too because there'll probably be a lot of them haha. Also I looked up "How to say happiness in Latin" and Gaudium is what popped up as the answer, I figured since Hufflepuff is supposed to be for all the cheery people why not indulge them lol. Please review so I know what you think, I'd really appreciate it.


	11. Ch 11: First Day of Term

A/N: Again I'm so sorry that it took me so long to finish chapter 10, it wasn't my fault but I still feel bad lol. I hope you guys liked what I did with it, I'm rather happy with it. J A few days ago I got my first flame, it was for my Pansy Parkinson to the Rescue? Story, which was my first try at lesbian smut and 'Vamp1res Suck' said I had no right writing about gays because I didn't know what it was like to be gay, bi, or lesbian lol. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it but still, I don't like the fact that I got a flame but oh well. At least I got a review that told me what somebody thought lol. Anyways on to chapter 11 of this story.

Chapter:11 First Day of Term.

Claryssa woke up feeling nervous about her first lessons, what if she ended up being no good? What if they told her there was a mistake in inviting her to attend and she had to go back to living as a muggle knowing about this wonderful world that she didn't actually belong to. Worry set in and she ran to the bathroom across the room and vomited, she felt someone come up behind her and grab her hair to keep it from getting into the toilet as she emptied what little was left of last night's feast and stomach acid out of her stomach.

When she finished, she smiled weakly at her hair's savior, "Thanks Jasmine," she said softly and then going back to grab her bathroom bag.

When she returned Jasmine was waiting for her, "Your welcome, I hope you would do the same for me if it was ever needed," Jasmine replied with a smile since Claryssa had left before she could answer.

They both showered quickly and then got ready for the day, Claryssa's school uniform fit her perfectly and she was glad she didn't have to wear Dudley's old clothes died gray like she would've if she had gone to Stonewall. This outfit was gray also but it had yellow and black around the neck and bottom of the shirt and around the bottom of her skirt, she had her black robes on that magically had a Hufflepuff house patch on the left side of her chest now that she hadn't noticed last night and her tie had also turned yellow and black. She brushed her teeth and used mouthwash to get all traces of the scent of puke out of her mouth before instantly drying her hair. She brushed her hair and put half of it up, half down and put in her Lily clip on the ponytail like she always did. She decided to apply makeup for the first time since Minerva had bought it for her. She smiled at her reflection when she was done and made her way to her bed to grab her Lily bag.

"I like your bag Claryssa," Jasmine smiled at her sweetly. Jasmine had straight golden brown hair that went half way down her back, beautiful chocolate brown eyes, and a very sweet smile. Jasmine had her hair down except for two little braids that started right next to her face that she had wrapped around her head and clipped it in the back of her head with a little black burette. She seemed to Claryssa like one of those sweet, shy girls that everyone loved and it was impossible to hate them because they were so nice to everyone no matter who they were.

"Thanks Jasmine, I like the way you put your hair," Claryssa replied trying to be as nice.

"Oh thanks," Jasmine giggled and they walked out the doors into the common room.

There wasn't a fire in the fireplace now and sunshine flew in through the windows on either side of the fireplace and t was a bright morning. The sunlight seemed to dance with the material of the couches making them shine a little, it was a very appealing affect. Claryssa wanted to see if she would find other pretty and magical things around Hogwarts that she hadn't seen yet that would make great projects for her art and she made her way towards the entrance of the common room on her way to the Great Hall.

"So Jasmine is this all new to you too or did you grow up in the magical world?" Claryssa asked trying to get to know her roommate.

"Oh my family are purebloods, the Moons have been around for over a century so I grew up in the magical world but still Hogwarts is something else isn't it?" Jasmine said dreamily.

"Yes it is! I love it here, it's wonderful and beautiful and I can't wait to learn more about it and the magical world," Claryssa said excitedly.

"I just can't wait to learn some magic, I'm super excited," Jasmine said.

"Oh me too but I'm really nervous, what if I'm not any good or they tell me I don't belong here or something?" Claryssa said worriedly.

"Oh Claryssa you'll be wonderful, you destroyed the most powerful dark wizard of all time when you were a baby, you've gotta be strong and powerful," Jasmine said trying to console her.

"I don't know how I did it though so I don't know if that proves anything or not, that's why I threw up this morning, I'm just so nervous," Claryssa told her honestly.

"I'm nervous too Claryssa but I'm sure we'll be great," Jasmine said sweetly as they walked into the Great Hall together.

"Thanks Jasmine," Claryssa said feeling a little better and she could see why Jasmine was sorted into Hufflepuff, she was very sweet and encouraging, she could see that they'd be good friends.

"Oh no problem," Jasmine waved it off as they sat down next to Cedric who was waiting there patiently for Claryssa.

"I'm Cedric Diggory, what's your name?" he asked Jasmine politely and she blushed at the thought that someone so sweet and handsome was talking to her.

"I'm Jasmine Moon, I'm Claryssa's roommate," Jasmine said quickly.

"Nice to meet you, I hope you'll watch over her when I can't," Cedric said.

"Nice to meet you too and I'll try but I don't see why she needs to be watched over," Jasmine said with a little laugh. Cedric just smiled at her and helped himself to some sausage, biscuits, and gravy.

"I had a troublesome childhood," Claryssa said and left it at that not wanting to indulge too much about herself yet. She also grabbed some sausage, biscuits, and gravy and began eating slowly hoping her nerves wouldn't kick back up and she'd toss it all.

"Oh ok then well I'll try to watch over you as best I can," Jasmine said politely and turned to her breakfast.

"Hi Claryssa, I'm Susan Bones," Susan said as she and Hannah sat down across from them.

"Oh hi, sorry I didn't introduce myself last night I was very tired," Claryssa said with a laugh shaking her hand.

"Oh so was I so don't worry about it," Susan said with a laugh. Susan had silky red hair that was right below her shoulders, dark blue eyes, and a beautiful Ivory complexion. She seemed nice and Claryssa really wanted some friends so she decided to get to know all of her roommates.

"What about you?" Claryssa asked looking at her third roommate.

"Oh I'm Hannah Abbott," she said quietly and shook Claryssa's had. Claryssa looked at her and remembered she was the first to get called to be sorted. She was pink-faced, with blonde, wavy hair that went halfway down her shoulder blades, baby blue eyes, and a very soft voice. She was incredibly shy but seemed like a very nice girl.

"Well nice to meet you both, this is Jasmine Moon," Claryssa said pointing out Jasmine.

"Nice to meet you all," Jasmine said sweetly and they continued on with breakfast.

Minerva had been watching the scene play out and she was happy that Claryssa was trying to make friends with her housemates, she knew the girl needed more friends after what she had gone through. She smiled to see them all getting along and went back to her food.

"Time Tables are here!" Professor Sprout, Head of Hufflepuff house, said loudly for the whole table to hear and began passing them out quickly. Their first class was Herbology with Professor Sprout and the Ravenclaws. Then it'd be History of Magic with the Gryffindors, then lunch. After lunch it'd be double Defense Against the Dark Arts with Ravenclaw and then dinner. They finished their lunch quickly and then headed towards the grounds.

"Talk to you later Cedric," Claryssa said with a smile and a wave.

"Ok see you at lunch, have fun!" he replied with a smile and wave of his own.

"He's so cute, how do you know him?" Susan asked excitedly.

"Oh he lives near my aunt's house, he was my very first friend," Claryssa said with a smile.

"So you've known him for years?" Hannah asked.

"Oh no we just met at the beginning of the summer at the park near our houses, well my aunt's and his," Claryssa said.

"And he was your first friend? What about before that?" Jasmine asked curiously.

"My cousin Dudley was a bully so he kept everyone away from me," Claryssa said sadly as they walked into the Greenhouse.

"Oh that sucks!" Jasmine said sympathetically.

"Yeah it did but things are better now," Claryssa said with a smile.

"So is Cedric seeing anyone?" Susan asked with a wink towards Claryssa.

"Uh…no he's not, Cedric and I are just friends, I don't know if we'll ever be more than that though," Claryssa said.

"Are you kidding? He totally seems into you?" Hannah said smiling.

"You think? Claryssa asked, "I hope so but I really shouldn't be thinking about relationships anytime soon," she said with a laugh.

"That's true we are only eleven, but we can dream" Susan said with a laugh.

"Attention first years, I am Professor Sprout, your Herbology teacher and the Hufflepuff Head of House but that doesn't mean I'm unfair to the other students," she said looking at the Ravenclaws to make sure they knew she would treat everyone equally. Claryssa focused all her attention on her Head of House because she knew she'd be interested in the class.

"There is a lot more to Herbology than planting things, you must know about the different plants and fungi, what they can do, be used for, and anything of the like. It's a very fascinating subjects for those who like me are very in tune with the Earth," Professor Sprout continued. Claryssa was hanging on to her every words not wanting to wait to start learning.

"I need you all to take out your books and read the introduction and then we will start with the lesson for today," she said and everyone made a mad dash to complete their instructions. Claryssa started reading as soon as she opened the book and finished before the others so she just sat there watching the teacher waiting for her to continue.

When everyone finished Prof. Sprout asked, "Can anyone give me a brief summary of the introduction?"

"It basically said we are about to start a journey on learning how to identify plants and fungi, what they can be used for, if they are dangerous or not, what to do if attacked by a live plant such as a Tentacula for instance, how to take care of any plant of fungi, and any and all basics of Herbology," Claryssa said bravely.

"Very good Miss Potter, 5 points to Hufflepuff!" Prof. Sprout said with a smile making Claryssa beam. Claryssa was already off to a good start in what she figured would be her favorite class and waited to get more chances to prove she wasn't a mistake in this world like she had feared earlier that morning.

"Today we are as Claryssa said starting to learn the basics of Herbology, which can sometimes be boring as the basics of most classes are but once you learn them and get past it you will find Herbology a very interesting subject," Prof. Sprout said. "Now we are going to start with flowers because most are easily recognizable and some are actually used for special things."

"Professor, are we talking about regular flowers or magical flowers?" a Ravenclaw girl asked shyly.

"We are talking about both Miss Perks, some normal flowers can be used for things just as some magical flowers can be," Prof. Sprout answered with a smile.

"Does anyone know a type of flower that can be used for something special?" she asked the class.

Again that same Ravenclaw girl raised her hand, "I heard Roses can," she said.

"Right you are Sally-Anne Roses can be used, 5 points to Ravenclaw," Prof. Sprout said and Sally-Anne beamed happy she wasn't wrong in front of the whole class.

"Roses petals can be crushed and the liquid that comes from them can be used in perfumes, other female products and dyes. In fact when you crush up the petals it gives a light pink liquid and they use that to color Rosewood wands pink and can be used in stains to stain other pieces of wood furniture," Prof. Sprout explained and Claryssa was writing down everything she said, she wanted to know all the professor could teach her about Herbology. The rest of the class the teacher explained the uses for different regular flowers had and what they could be used for, next class was to be about the uses of Magical flowers and all the information she told them and more was in their books and their homework was to read chapter 1 by the next lesson and then they were dismissed.

"Wow Herbology is so interesting!" Claryssa said excitedly to her roommates as they walked back up to the castle.

"I agree," Jasmine said with a smile, her favorite part about the lesson was when Prof. Sprout went over the Jasmine flower and she found out it could be used as a potion ingredient, a dye when crushed up, for things like perfumes and other female products and a few other things and loved that she was named after such a pretty flower.

"It seems pretty cool but I doubt we'll be going over flowers for the whole seven years," Susan said, "We're bound to come across some plats or fungi that are gross and we don't wanna mess with."

"That's true but the idea itself that there are plants and things that could be used for so many things to help the world and could possibly cure diseases is so amazing!" Hannah said with a big smile.

"I know! I'm so excited to learn all this stuff, I can't wait 'til next class," Claryssa said happily as they walked up the first flight of stairs.

"Yeah me too," Jasmine said, "So what do think our next class is gonna be like?"

"I heard History of Magic is really boring from my older brother Kevin, he graduated at the end of last year," Hannah said.

"Yeah it sounds boring, I mean magic's been around for over 1000 years, the history of it is gonna be long and exhausting to learn about," Susan said as they walked through the door into the History of Magic classroom.

The Gryffindors were already there in their seats since Transfiguration was on the first floor and History of Magic was on the 4th, the Hufflepuffs had a longer distance to travel. Hermione was sitting at the very front of class with parchment for note taking already out while Ron sat a row back looking like he was already about to doze off. Claryssa went and sat next to him while Jasmine went and sat next to Hermione while Hannah and Susan sat at the table next to Ron and Claryssa.

"Good morning Ron," Claryssa said as she sat down quietly making him jump at the sudden noise.

"Oh- Claryssa you scared me, good morning," he said stifling a yawn.

"Sorry I guess I should've made my presence known before speaking," Claryssa said with a laugh and pulled out her parchment to take notes. She pulled back out her eagle quill and ink and readied herself to write everything down.

"It's ok, so when do you think the professor's going to show up?" Ron asked with another yawn.

"I don't know," Claryssa said but then gasped as a ghost of an old man floated through the front of the classroom.

"Welcome to History of Magic students, I am Professor Binns and I'll be teaching you about the interesting history of our world," Professor Binns said in a boring monotone voice. Claryssa couldn't help but think this was going to be the longest, most boring class if she had to listen to that voice through it all. Still throughout the lecture she took notes and managed to stay awake to her amazement by concentrating really hard on what she was writing. Claryssa wasn't sure on if she actually took any of the information in but she wrote it all down for later reading. She noticed Prof. Binns had a knack for mixing up Emeric the Evil and Uric the Oddball, which only confused the students worse. Ron slept throughout the entire lesson even though Claryssa kept nudging him trying to keep him awake. Jasmine had just wrote down the key points in the lecture and Susan and Hannah had switched off sleeping, Hannah had stayed up the first half taking notes and then halfway through the class woke up Susan who took notes for the second half of the class while Hannah slept. Claryssa thought that it was a great idea and funny but didn't think she could get away with it with Ron being her partner.

They all made their way to the Great Hall as quickly as they could. "That class was definitely the most boring class in the world," Jasmine said and they all shook their head in agreement.

Let's hope Defense Against the Dark Arts is better," Claryssa said.

"I heard it's a very interesting subject from my brother," Hannah said happily.

"Well he was right about the last class, he'll probably be right about this class," Susan said with a laugh.

"We can only hope," Jasmine said and they made their way to the bottom of the last flight of stairs.

When they walked in Cedric already had the seats around him saved for them and Claryssa hurriedly sat next to him. "Hi Cedric how's your first lessons so far?"

"Pretty good, how about yours?" he asked her politely.

"Herbology is SO fascinating! I can't wait to learn more it's almost like gardening but so much better!" She said excitedly. "History of Magic is extremely boring though, I'm surprised I managed to stay awake the entire lesson to take notes but I concentrated really hard on writing down everything he said and it seemed to work."

"Yeah History of Magic doesn't get any less boring with Prof. Binns as a teacher but your other classes will get more interesting as you progress," he said with a smile.

"That's good to know," Claryssa said smiling back and serving herself a Bacon Cheeseburger with French fries and decided to go with a Strawberry milkshake instead of pumpkin juice.

"How do you get something other than pumpkin juice?" Hannah asked confused.

"Oh just simply grab the glass, think of what you want instead, and it'll take away the pumpkin juice and replace it with whatever you want, just don't tell anyone because technically no one's supposed to know but the professors taught me that," Claryssa said quietly.

"Why did they teach you and not anyone else about it?" Susan asked.

"Oh I live here now," Claryssa said trying to leave it at that.

"Why? I thought you lived at your aunt's house," Susan pried.

"I had a troublesome childhood and the professors took me in to try to give me a real childhood," Claryssa said and then went back to her burger. No one else asked about it because they could tell it wasn't a subject she wanted to talk about much.

"So the drink could become anything?" Susan asked slyly.

"Anything but alcohol because this is a school," Claryssa laughed.

Susan grabbed her goblet and scrunched her face up and concentration and then finally smiled and opened her eyes, her glass was replaced with a purple liquid.

"What's that?" Jasmine asked trying to see what it could be.

"Grape juice, I couldn't decide between that, a Dr. Pepper, or tea," Susan said with a shrug.

"Ok my turn," Hannah grabbed the glass and sat there thinking for a minute before the glass turned into orange soda. "It's my favorite," Hannah said with a laugh.

"Alrighty, how about this," Jasmine said, grabbing the glass and looking dreamily up to the enchanted ceiling. A few minutes later her goblet filled with a thick buttery colored liquid and she smirked happily and took a large gulp.

"What was that?" Claryssa asked.

"Butterbeer," Jasmine said happily and took a large bite of burger.

"So what about you Cedric, are you gonna change what you are drinking?" Susan asked.

"No I'm content with my pumpkin juice," he said with a smile and went back to his food.

Lunch went by quicker than they thought it would and soon they had to get to their next lessons. When Claryssa and the girls stood up Cedric followed them, walking them to the double doors and then stopped Claryssa before she got too far, he whispered into her ear, "Wanna meet up after dinner and talk?" Claryssa got goose bumps as she felt his breath on her neck and she shivered and nodded to him before walking to the stairs and her waiting friends and Cedric made his way out the front double doors towards Herbology.

"What was that about?" Susan asked wagging her eyebrows.

Claryssa laughed and her new friend, "He wants to meet up later and talk."

"Ooh go Claryssa," Hannah joked and laughed along with the others.

"Guys it's not like that, he's just a really good friend and he's a great listener," Claryssa said as they walked up second pair of stairs.

"Ok but you gotta tell us all about it before bed time," Jasmine said smiling as they walked through the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom door.

"Um ok then," Claryssa laughed and her and Jasmine sat in the seats at the front of the class in the middle while Susan and Hannah sat at the table to their left. Sally-Anne Perks was sitting at the table to her right with a girl she was pretty sure was Lisa Turpin. They seemed to have clicked well because they were chatting animatedly about their last class, while Padma Patil and Mandy Brocklehurst were sitting at the table behind them talking quietly amongst themselves, seeming like they were trying to get to know each other.

"G-Good A-Aftern-noon Ch-children, I- I a- am Pr-Professor Q-Quirrell a-and t-this is D-Defense A-Against t-the D-Dark Ar-Arts," Quirrell's stutters came from behind them and they all turned around to see him walking up the aisle.

"T-Take ou-out y-your b-books a-and r-read t-the in-introd-duction a-and t-then w-we w-will pr-proceed t-to y-your l-lesson f-for t-today," he continued and everyone did as told. Claryssa again was done before everyone else and waited with her quill above her paper to start taking notes as soon as the lesson began.

"Th-thank y-you n-now w-we w-will s-start w-with s-small c-creatures a-and m-move o-on t-to m-more in-interesting th-things a-as y-you pr-progress th-through y-your sc-schooling. T-Today w-we a-are s-starting w-with p-poison-nous re-reptiles," Quirrell began and Claryssa wrote Poisonous Reptiles at the top of her parchment.

"T-the v-venom o-of s-some p-poison-nous re-reptiles c-can b-be u-used in a v-variety o-of d-differ-rent p-potions I-includ-ding a-antidotes f-for o-other p-poisons," Quirrell began and Claryssa copied every word, minus the stutters until the end of the class.

"Wow that class sounds interesting but I hope we have another teacher next year, the stutters are giving me a headache already and it's only been one class!" Susan said as they walked out the door."

"Oh come on Susan it's not his fault, he had a traumatic experience when he met up with that vampire and he hasn't been the same since," Claryssa said trying to be nice even though the stutters were hurting her head too.

"I know but come one listening to that for seven years will give us a permanent headache while thinking about that subject," Susan said with a laugh.

"We should just try to be nice though," Hannah said.

"Yeah or else he could like purposely flunk us," Jasmine said as they walked down the stairs.

"I don't think he would but alright we'll be nice," Susan said. "So Claryssa excited to go on your date with Cedric?"

"Oh jeez Susan it isn't a date, we are just gonna talk," Claryssa said laughing.

"Whatever you wanna call it," Susan laughed and Claryssa blushed.

"Oh Susan you're embarrassing her," Hannah said nudging her friend.

"Sorry Claryssa, I'm just playing with you," Susan said with a wink.

"Well you still better tell us all about your talk before bed then," Jasmine said laughing.

"I'll tell you guys, don't worry about it but I doubt it's gonna be anything significant, Cedric and I just love talking to each other," Claryssa said with a shrug as they made their way through the doors into the Great Hall.

Cedric again had saved them all seats and they sat down smiling their thanks to him.

"So how was DADA?" Cedric asked them at large.

"It sounds very interesting but all of us agree that the stutters are gonna give us headaches BUT we are going to be nice anyway since he is our professor," Claryssa said summing up their earlier conversation.

"Yeah I thought so, he didn't always stutter. It only started after my first year since he went on Holiday and ran into that vampire during the summer but I've learned to tune out the stuttering part and just focus on the content of the lesson, it's much easier that way," Cedric said smiling.

"Yeah I bet it is, I hope we learn to do that soon," Jasmine said with a laugh.

"You just really got to try to do it and you can, you guys will be experts at it like me soon enough," he said with a smile.

"Yeah I hope so," Hannah said with a smile back. Claryssa could tell they all thought Cedric was as handsome as she did.

"So Cedric if we ever have any issues with our lessons would you help us?" Susan said as they all grabbed some Chicken and dumplings from the platters of food in front of them.

"Of course, as long as I'm not too busy with my studies, I'll be happy to help. Any friend of Claryssa's is a friend of mine," he smiled warmly making Susan blush a little.

Susan cleared her throat, "Well that's good to know," and smiled back sweetly at him. Dinner went by quickly and Claryssa's roommates went upstairs after waving to Claryssa and Cedric and in Susan's case she added a wink making Claryssa laugh and roll her eyes.

"So they seem nice," Cedric said as they walked through the double doors to the grounds.

"Oh yeah they are, Hannah is really shy and quiet but she's very nice. Jasmine's very sweet and caring and I can see her being my female best friend," Claryssa laughed, "Susan is funny, she's probably the boldest out of the four of us, and she's still really nice."

"Yeah that's good to know you have some more friends, so who's gonna be your male best friend since Jasmine's your female best friend?" he asked.

"You are silly and Ron will probably be close behind you," Claryssa laughed, "But you'll always be number one." Claryssa smiled at him.

"I'm glad I'm always going to be your first friend," Cedric smiled warmly back at her making her heart melt.

"Of course you will be," she said as they made it to the edge of the Great lake.

"Other than reading do you have any other hobbies or talents?" Cedric asked.

"I told you I love drawings and painting, those are pretty much my only hobbies and talents I have at the moment," Claryssa said.

"Yes but you've never actually shown me a drawing you've made, is there any particular reason why?" he pried.

"I-uh I don't know if I'm good enough to show anyone," she said blushing, no one had specifically asked to see her drawings before.

"Oh I'm sure you are, can I see one please?" he asked.

"Uh alright," she said biting her lip, she went into her Lily bag and pulled out The Witches, she kept it with her everywhere since it was her first gift from a friend. She opened the cover and pulled out the drawing of Cedric she had made in the hospital and showed it to him blushing deeply. She didn't think she'd ever show him but the look he gave her when asking to see it made her want to, she just hoped he liked it.

"This-this is beautiful Claryssa! I love it, and it's extremely good!" he said exuberantly.

"Really you think so?" Claryssa asked ecstatically.

"Yes it's wonderful, I just wish it was on something better than a napkin so it'd be less likely to tear," he said.

"I could redraw it on a piece of paper for you if you want?" Claryssa suggested.

"Would you? I'd love a copy," Cedric asked as he passed her drawing back and placed it back in the cover of her book and back into the Lily bag.

"Of course I will," Claryssa said smiling brightly and Cedric faltered while staring at her. "What?" Claryssa asked worriedly.

"Your smile is so beautiful when you genuinely smile like that," he said quietly and a cute little blush appeared on his cheeks.

"Oh…" she laughed blushing as well, "Thank you Cedric, you're always so sweet!"

"Your welcome and you deserve it all," he said smiling.

"You deserve it too for always being such a sweet, caring, and overall good friend and listener," Claryssa replied smiling back

"Well thank you but I think you deserve it more than I do, you've been through more than I have," he retorted back.

"You still deserve a lot more Cedric," as they finished their walk around the lake.

"We should get back, it's getting late," he said as they walked towards to double doors.

"Yeah and I'm tired after my first day of lessons," Claryssa agreed.

They walked quietly towards their dorm just enjoying each other's presence and when they got to the portrait of Helga Hufflepuff he grabbed her hand and kissed it tenderly, her face lit up with a deep blush as she looked up into his gray eyes. "Thanks for walking with me Claryssa, have a good night," Cedric said with a smile and a slight blush of his own.

"Your welcome thanks for inviting me, have a good night" she replied with a large smile. "Gaudium," and the portrait swung open to allow them into the dorm. Claryssa walked quickly into her room and almost ran to her bed to start changing seeing as her roommates were all already in their PJ's waiting for her.

"Well how did it go?" Susan asked once Claryssa had finally gotten her pink cotton PJ's form the night before on and sat down on her bed.

"Well he said you guys seem nice once we said goodnight after dinner and I told him what I like about you girls," Claryssa started.

"Well what is it you like about us than?" Jasmine asked intrigued.

Claryssa repeated to them about what she had said, excluding the part about the female best friend and the talk about Ron and stuff.

"Aw you really think I'm bolder than you guys?" Susan asked, "I don't know if that's true or if you are bolder than me Claryssa."

"I don't know if I am or not either," Claryssa asked.

"Ok so what else?" Hannah piped up.

"Well he asked what I liked to do other than reading and I told him I loved to draw and paint and I think I'm pretty good at it, so he asked to see something I've drawn and I showed him one and he though it was awesome and so I'm making him a copy of it on paper since my first sketch was on a napkin," Claryssa laughed.

"Can we see it?" Hannah asked excitedly. Claryssa nodded and bit her lip again as she pulled back out her drawing and they all crowded onto Claryssa's bed to look at it. "Oh Claryssa, it's beautiful!" Hannah said patting her back.

"It has amazing likeness to him," Susan said with a big smile and a little elbow to Claryssa.

"Oh it's lovely, I wish I could draw like that," Jasmine said excitedly.

"Thanks guys!" Claryssa said blushing at the compliments and then putting it back into her hiding place in The Witches.

So anything else?" Jasmine asked expectantly.

"Oh no that was about it, just a little complimenting each other like usual and then walking back up to the castle," Claryssa said as the girl all went back to their respective beds.

"Well what did he say?" Susan asked wanting to know every detail.

"I was smiling very brightly because I was excited that he liked my drawing and he told I had such a beautiful smile when I smiled so genuinely, it made me blush so bad!" Claryssa explained.

"Aw that was so sweet of him," Jasmine said with a big smile.

"That's what I told him and he said that I deserved it and so much more," Claryssa said all giddy like.

"Aw he's SO sweet and handsome, gosh Claryssa you're so lucky!" Hannah said excitedly.

"Yeah I bet you two will eventually date and probably get married or something," Susan said.

"Oh jeez I don't know about all that but I know we'll stay friends for the rest of our lives for sure," Claryssa said not mentioning the little leap in her stomach at Susan's statement, she wished it could be true.

"Yeah it's obvious you guys are into each other Claryssa, I think Susan's right," Jasmine said with a big smile.

"Well we'll see then," Claryssa said smiling back, "But it's time for bed good night!"

The girls all chorused good night and the lights went out, Claryssa snuggled into her blankets and fell into a sweet dream of Cedric and marriage.


	12. Ch 12: A Crazy Second Day

A/N: Ok originally I was gonna throw all of week 1 of term in the last chapter but when I finished the first day and was already at 11 pgs I decided to write the rest in other chapters so you wouldn't be reading a gargantuan chapter lol. Oh and for the record, I just made up the stuff they learned in their first lessons last chapter, I don't know if any of it is true or not but I just needed filler information for those classes. J

Chapter 12: A Crazy Second Day

When they woke up they all quickly got ready for school, Claryssa had a giant smile on her face the entire time. "Hey Claryssa, Hannah's still in the shower and we're like starving do you mind waiting for her while we go down to breakfast?" Susan asked as Claryssa was brushing her hair.

"Yeah, you and Jasmine go ahead we'll be there when she's done," Claryssa said smiling and went back to brushing her hair. Claryssa heard a beautiful voice coming from the shower Hannah was in and sat there listening to Hannah sing as she brushed her hair into a ponytail. When Hannah was done she quickly dried off and went to change and came back into brush her hair. "You have a beautiful singing voice Hannah!" Claryssa said as soon as she was back in the room.

"Oh jeez you heard me?" Hannah said while a blush grew across her cheeks.

"Yes and don't be embarrassed you sing beautifully," Claryssa said smiling.

"Oh thanks Claryssa," Hannah said smiling. "Do you know anyway to dry my hair quicker? It's so much harder to brush when wet"

"I do, Prof. Flitwick gave me a book for my birthday and that's one of the charms in it," Claryssa said while taking out her wand. She muttered the charm, flicked it, and Hannah's hair became dry instantly.

"Oh thank you, I've gotta remember that." Hannah said laughing.

"No problem, I use it every day before doing my hair," Claryssa said smiling. Hannah quickly brushed her hair and threw it up into pigtails and they hurried out of the common room towards the Great Hall for breakfast. When they got there Susan was again sitting across from Cedric with a spot next to her for Hannah and Jasmine was sitting next to Cedric with a space in between them for Claryssa. They rushed to their seats since they were late and started to grab some eggs and bacon and pile them onto their plates.

"What took you guys so long?" Cedric asked watching them eat with gusto.

"I took a little bit of a longer shower than usual I guess," Hannah said laughing though a little embarrassed.

"Ah that's ok I'm usually late getting ready on my second day of lessons too," Cedric smiled.

"So what do we have today?" Claryssa asked her roommates.

"Transfigurations with Ravenclaw, Charms with Slytherin, lunch, Potions with Ravenclaw, and Flying with Ravenclaw and then dinner," Jasmine read off the Time table they were given yesterday.

"Lovely a class with Slytherin, this should be fun, not!" Claryssa grumbled before taking a large bite of eggs.

"Do you not like Slytherin for a reason?" Hannah asked.

"I've heard bad things about them but no it's just that, that Malfoy git is in Slytherin and he just gets under my skin the way he thinks he's better than anyone else," Claryssa said after chewing.

"Hate to break it to you but most pureblood families do," Jasmine said.

"Do yours Jasmine?" Claryssa asked.

"Um well my parents and I don't but most of the other members of my family do," Jasmine said.

"How old is your family?" Cedric asked curiously.

"Over a century old and most have been in either Slytherin or Ravenclaw. There's been quite a few Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs but not nearly enough in my opinion," Jasmine replied.

"That's why your family has those thoughts then," he shrugged.

"Yeah well that's why I'm glad I'm a half blood, I never have had to worry about that stuff," Susan said smiling.

"Yeah same here," Hannah said smiling as well.

"What about you Cedric?" Jasmine asked.

"Oh uh my family is also pureblood but none of us have ever had the notion that we are better than others because of our blood status, we've mostly had Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors in my family," Cedric said honestly.

"So you guys are like the Weasleys then, they're the same way except we've all been in Gryffindor," Ron said from behind them making Claryssa jump.

"When did you get here?" Claryssa asked.

"Right as she asked Cedric about his lineage," Ron said and sat in between Claryssa and Jasmine, pointing Jasmine out as the she he spoke of.

"My name is Jasmine Moon not she," Jasmine said a little irked.

"Oh sorry, Ron Weasley," he said shaking her hand.

"Hannah Abbott," Hannah said smiling and shaking his hand.

"And I'm Susan Bones," Susan said also shaking his hand.

"So what made you come sit over here?" Claryssa asked.

"Just coming to say hi to you, you're pretty much my only friend so far," he said with a shrug.

"Oh well I'm sure you'll meet lots of friends," Claryssa smiled at him.

"Thanks but I think it'll take a little time, you know only being the second day of school and all," he said smiling back.

"Yeah probably but we gotta go to our first lesson, talk to you later Ron," Jasmine said and they all got up to head to their lessons.

The girls made it inside the classroom quickly and realized they were the last to arrive and couldn't find McGonagall anywhere but they did see a cat on her desk which they found rather odd. _I didn't know Minerva had a cat, I've never seen it before_ Claryssa thought and started making her way towards the only two tables left.

"We made it just on time, can you imagine the look on Prof. McGonagall's face if we were late?" Susan asked. The cat jumped off the table and transformed into their Transfiguration teacher much to the surprise of all four girl that just walked in. "Oh my God, that was so cool!" Susan said excitedly.

"Oh thank you for that wonderful assessment Miss Bones now if you'd be so kind as to take your seats," Minerva said and they sat down quickly. Again Jasmine and Claryssa in the seat in the middle at the front of class and Susan and Hannah to the table on their left, Sally-Anne Perks and Lisa Turpin were to their right.

"Now today we will read the basics of Transfiguration and begin on attempting to change a match into a needle. The spell you need and how to perform it are in chapter 1 of your books please begin and take notes, you never know when they could be useful," Minerva said she showed the class how to do it once, and went and sat down at her desk. Claryssa tried to catch her eye to silently apologize for being late but Minerva was focused on her book. Claryssa opened her book and began reading the introduction and chapter 1.

By the end of class Claryssa's was silver and pointy but was still obviously a match and Sally-Anne Perks was silver, they were the two closest to changing theirs.

"5 points to each Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff for the closest transfiguration, You all have homework to study and attempt to change your match due by next class, you are dismissed but Claryssa can you stay after for a minute, I wish to speak to you," Minerva said and everyone started gathering their stuff.

"Yes Prof. McGonagall, go on ahead guys I'll see you in Charms," Claryssa said to her friends and sat there waiting for her guardian to speak.

Once the class was empty Minerva looked at her, "Why were you late to my class?"

"We got caught up talking with Cedric and Ron Weasley at breakfast and forgot about the time, I'm so sorry Professor, it won't happen again," Claryssa replied.

"I hope it doesn't. Tardiness is not acceptable in my class Claryssa, charge or not I will be forced to use punishment against you and your friends if it happens again after this week since it's the first week of school," Minerva stated in her most teacher-like voice, "Are we clear?"

"Yes ma'am we're clear, I really am sorry though," Claryssa said miserably, she felt horrible for upsetting her guardian.

"Here's a late pass to your next lesson, try to enjoy the rest of your day," Minerva said and gave Claryssa the pass. Claryssa took it, grabbed her Lily bag, and walked out of the classroom trying not to cry. She rushed down the hallway and up a couple flights of stairs to the Charms class on the fourth floor. Before walking in she composed her face so she didn't look so upset and opened the door. "I have a late pass from Prof. McGonagall sir," Claryssa said as she walked to the front of the class and handed him the paper.

"That's quite alright I hadn't started yet anyways go and sit next to your peers," Prof. Flitwick squeaked and Claryssa did as she was told and sat next to her roommates.

"So what was that about?" Susan whispered as soon as Claryssa was sitting down.

"It was a warning that tardiness isn't acceptable in her class and that if it happens again past this week, we'll be punished," Claryssa whispered back.

"If it was only a warning, why did she only have you stay behind since it pertains to us all?" Jasmine asked.

"I don't know maybe she just expects more out of the girl who lived," Claryssa said, not sure if she wanted to tell her new friends about her guardian just yet.

"Welcome first years to Charms, it's a very fascinating class for those willing to learn," Prof. Flitwick started, closing the girls' conversation for any further comments. "Today you will be learning the basics, and I know you've probably done this in most of your other classes already but you'll need to read the introduction of your book," he continued.

Everyone took out their books and began reading the introduction and then looked expectedly at the professor when finished. A folded piece of parchment with her name on it was placed on top of Claryssa's book while waiting. She looked curiously at it and then opened it: "Hey Potter, have you reconsidered my offer yet or are you going tp continue attempting to make friends with the wrong sort of people?" -Draco Malfoy. Claryssa looked down to her left a few people down and saw him staring at her with interest.

She rolled her eyes and wrote under it: "I think I can find good friends on my own thank you very much!" -Claryssa, refolded it and passed it back.

When she got it back it said "You're gonna regret that Potter!" -Draco, she rolled her eyes again and wrote. "I seriously doubt that" : ) -Claryssa and passed it back before Prof. Flitwick began talking again. She heard Draco scoff, crumple up the paper, and throw it into his bag before she smiled and started paying attention to her Charms Professor.

"Now I want you all to attempt to make the shoe in front of you tap dance today, the incantation and instructions are in chapter 1 of your book, and don't worry the shoes don't smell, I already cleaned them," he said, showed them how to do it, and then began reading a book. By the end of class no one but Claryssa, had gotten their shoes to move let alone make it tap dance and they were assigned homework to work on it.

The girls made their way down to lunch slightly upset, "How do they expect us to do that on the first day?" Susan groaned.

"I have no idea, it's so hard especially since we just got here and really haven't used magic before," Hannah groaned as well.

"I know it's unfair and they make it look so easy!" Jasmine agreed.

"It was extremely hard and I only got it to lift a little by the end of class and my head's hurting because of all the concentration," Claryssa said rubbing her head.

When they sat down Cedric was waiting for them smiling as they all plopped into their seats. "What's wrong?" Cedric asked still smiling, their faces must've been comical and quite identical.

"They make it look so easy and then expect us to be able to do it," Susan said.

Cedric laughed, "They're professors they do that, no one ever does it the first day girls don't worry about it."

"I made the shoe move but my head is pounding from concentrating so hard," Claryssa said.

"Well it's good that you made it move but like I said it takes more than one class to do it and you guys will be working on it for a little while so you have time don't worry," he said. "Now eat something, you'll need the strength for your next two classes," he said before taking a bite of taco salad.

The girls nodded their heads and grabbed some taco salad and a quesadilla each and started eating slowly. "So how are you doing in your lessons Cedric?" Claryssa asked.

"As good as you guys at the moment, the spells we're learning are supposed to be getting tougher as the years progress so I'm in the same boat," he said smiling.

"So what are you working on at the moment?" Hannah asked.

"I'll let you guys find out when you get to your 4th year so it stays a secret," he said laughing earning pointed stares from the four girls.

"Wow you guys seem to already be like your good friends, your facial expressions already match," he laughed again.

"You're mean, stop laughing at us" Jasmine said.

"Oh Jasmine, Cedric couldn't possibly be mean, he's way too nice for that," Claryssa chided. "He sure is being a prat though," she said making all the girls laugh.

"Claryssa, I thought you said you weren't gonna be a miss priss at school?" Cedric laughed.

"Psh no what I said was I wasn't going to go to a school for prissy girls," she laughed back.

"Whatever you say Queen Claryssa," Cedric laughed again.

"Oh please don't start that again," she laughed back. "Inside joke" she said to the three other girls who were confused on what they were talking about.

"Indeed it is," he said laughing again.

"Well anyways we should probably get going to the dungeons, I've heard Professor Snape doesn't like people to be tardy," Susan said so the girls finished their pumpkin juice and headed down to the dungeons. When they reached the classroom they took seats in the middle and took out their parchment for note taking.

At that moment the door banged open, scaring the crap out of the entire class, "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," Snape began as he stalked to the front of the room. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death-if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." Anyone could tell by his speech that Prof. Snape was passionate about his subject and Claryssa hoped that one day she could be passionate about something like that.

"Miss Potter!" Snape said suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

"If I'm correct sir, I believe it makes a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death," Claryssa said quietly, she had already read through her potion books since she knew it would be difficult to please him.

Snape quirked an eyebrow, surprised she knew the answer, "Very good Miss Potter, and where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

"That professor is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons," she said smiling.

"Well done Miss Potter and what's the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" he asked trying to catch her at something she didn't know.

"Monkshood and wolfsbane are the same plant which also goes by the name of aconite Professor Snape," Claryssa said smirking a little at his looks of surprise.

"Excellent Miss Potter, 15 points to Hufflepuff," he said though he didn't look too thrilled about it going to Hufflepuff but Claryssa beamed, she was happy to win her house points. "Why aren't any of you writing that down?" Snape asked irritably. There was a mad rush for people to get out parchment for notes except for the few who already had their parchment out and Claryssa just simply jotted it down even though she already knew, in case it came up later and she had forgotten by then.

"Today you will be of course reading the introductory paragraph in your book and you will be brewing a simple potion to get rid of boils, the directions for it are in chapter one of your books, the ingredient store room is the open door to my left, and you have the rest of the class to brew it," Snape said before sitting back in his desk.

There was a rustle of pages as the class began reading the introductory, when finished Claryssa got up and walked to the store room to get ingredients she'd need. She noticed some of the ingredients marked 7th years, looked very similar to the ingredients she found in the abandoned classroom before school started and reminded herself to ask Prof. Snape about them later. When she walked back to her seat, Jasmine had already set up the cauldron and was ready to begin.

Claryssa wanted to prove to the Potions Professor that she wasn't a dunderhead and followed the directions for the potion exactly and by the end of class hers and Jasmine's potion was perfect. She looked around and noticed they weren't the only ones, Sally-Anne Perks and Lisa Turpin's potion was also the same and others had potions that were still really good but the color was off a little or something small like that. Professor Snape walked around, checking people's potions and sent her a small smile that no one else saw when he came to Claryssa's and Jasmine's. "Well well Miss Potter, you aren't a dunderhead like I would've thought, being our new celebrity and all," he said rudely but Claryssa could somehow tell it was to cover up his approval. "Another 5 points to Hufflepuff," he said and continued around the room.

When he got to Sally-Anne Perks and Lisa Turpin's he looked at them skeptically before saying, "You also aren't dunderheads, 5 points for Ravenclaw," and walked back to the front of the class. "Most of you did really well for it being your first time brewing a potion, so for that I'll only assign you a 500 word essay on the other uses of porcupine quills due by class on Thursday, class dismissed," he said and everyone gathered their stuff to get out of class quickly.

"How did you know all that at the beginning of class Claryssa?" Hannah asked.

"I met Professor Snape on my birthday and I could tell he would be difficult to please so I knew I had to read through my book at least before the first class because I heard from Cedric he loves to quiz students on things like that in the first lesson of the year for every year," Claryssa answered honestly.

"You could've warned us, you know," Susan said though Claryssa could tell she was relieved it hadn't been her to be surprised like that.

"Sorry I had kind of forgotten until then," Claryssa said, "Now who's ready for flying lessons?" she said as they made it out of the dungeons.

"I am, I've been flying since I was 8 though so I don't really need it," Jasmine said happily.

"I'm excited but nervous, I've never flown before," Hannah said worriedly.

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Claryssa said but she too was nervous, she hadn't flown before either.

"I'm kind of scared," Susan said honestly, "I've never flown before and honestly I've never wanted to."

"Oh I'm sure you'll be fine too Susan," Jasmine said reassuringly but the look on Susan's face seemed like she doubted it.

"So what's flying like Jasmine?" Claryssa asked trying to get as much information as possible.

"Oh it's the best, the wind blowing through your hair, your free to go where you want, it's a total rush as well, it's absolutely fun," Jasmine said excitedly.

"So it's kinda like when your on the swings and your swinging upwards towards the sky?" Claryssa asked.

"Yes Claryssa except it's so much better!" Jasmine laughed happily and the girls carried on towards the Quidditch pitch quickly. When they got there, there were two rows of brooms, one for the Hufflepuffs and one for the Ravenclaws. The girls chose a side and waited for the others to come so the lesson could start.

"Welcome boys and girls to your first flying lesson, I am Madame Hooch and I'll be your instructor," Madame Hooch said as she walked in between the two rows to the front. "Well what are you all waiting for everyone step to the left of your broom, stick your right hand over it, and say up," Madame Hooch said loudly.

"Up!" the class chorused and Claryssa's broom was the first to reach her hand, followed closely by Jasmine's.

"With feeling!" Madame Hooch shouted, since half the people's brooms were still on the ground.

"Up!" Susan and Hannah were both still yelling, and Hannah said with as much confidence as she could, "Up," and the broom flew to her hand and she sighed with relief.

Susan on the other hand was still having issues, "Up, up, up, up, up!" she was saying but it was only flopping on the ground.

"You gotta exude confidence, and want to fly or it won't come up," Jasmine told her sweetly, trying to help.

"Alright…UP!" Susan said with as much confidence as she could and the broom slowly lifted into her hand.

"It'll be better once you actually get in the air and liking to fly," Jasmine reassured her with a pat on the back.

"Alright now I want you all to mount your brooms," Madame Hooch stated loudly and everyone did what they were told. "Alright now on my whistle I want you to kick off the ground, hover for a few minutes and then touch back down," she dictated. "Three, two, one," and she blew the whistle.

Everybody kicked off the ground and hovered and then touched back down except for Susan, her broom didn't want to go back down, she yelled "Down!" but it only rose higher in the sky.

"Miss Bones, come back down this instant!" Madame Hooch yelled but Susan couldn't so Claryssa did the first thing she could think of, she kicked off the ground and sped off after her friend. "Miss Potter get down here before I'm forced to give you detention!" Madame Hooch said but Claryssa couldn't hear the professor as she leaned forward and raced towards Susan.

Susan was steadily rising higher and couldn't control it, she was terrified of heights and to make it worse the broom seemed to have a vendetta against her and was rising her higher, she was already 30 ft in the air and was clutching the broom for dear life. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Susan screamed.

"I'm coming Susan!" Claryssa yelled from behind her, still trying to get higher towards Susan.

"Hurry, I can't hold on much longer!" Susan screamed to Claryssa though she was too scared to look behind her to find Claryssa.

"Hold on a little longer!" Claryssa said and leaned forward as much as she could to gain some speed, when she was at 30 ft in the air Susan was at 50 and Claryssa was already going as quick as she could.

"I'll try!" Susan yelled but her hands were sweating from being so scared and her hands slipped and she fell off the broom screaming at the top of her lungs.

"I'll catch you Susan!" Claryssa said and continued racing towards her friend and when she got to where she could catch her, Susan slipped out of her hands. Claryssa dove quickly leaning as far down as she could and ended up catching Susan 5 ft off the ground and all the way across the Quidditch Pitch. They both tumbled off Claryssa's broom into a painful heap but they were both safe.

"Ow! I'm never getting on another broom again!" Susan stated as they untangled themselves from each other.

"At least not without supervision, you shouldn't. I almost didn't catch you," Claryssa said as she helped her up and grabbed her broom.

"Thanks for saving me Claryssa," Susan said and crunched Claryssa into a giant bear hug.

"Ouch, your welcome Susan but can you please let me go, I can't breathe," Claryssa said hugging her back.

"Yeah sure," Susan said and let go of her as they began walking back towards the other students who were also running towards them with Madame Hooch in the lead looking even more pissed off than Snape on a good day.

"I think, I'm about to get in a whole lot of trouble," Claryssa said and grabbed Susan's hand for support. Susan squeezed her hand reassuringly, and they waited for the inevitable.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW STUPID THAT WAS POTTER?" Madame Hooch screamed as soon as they were in ear shot.

"Yes Ma'am," Claryssa said quietly.

"DO YOU ALSO KNOW I HAVE EVERY RIGHT AS A PROFESSOR TO EXPEL YOU FOR THAT?" Madame Hooch continued.

"Yes Ma'am," Claryssa said sadly hoping to Merlin she didn't get expelled.

"I WILL BE TALKING TO YOUR HEAD OF HOUSE AND YOUR GUARDIAN TONIGHT ABOUT THIS!" Madame Hooch yelled.

"Yes ma'am," Claryssa said quietly.

"Miss Bones are you alright?" Madame Hooch asked trying to rein in her temper.

"Yes ma'am, I'm fine. I didn't get hurt thanks to Claryssa, I could've died," Susan said at least trying to stick up for Claryssa.

"Good, from now on during Classes I will be right next to you at all times to make sure this doesn't happen again," Madame Hooch replied briskly.

"You mean I have to get back on a broom?" Susan asked.

"Yes Miss Bones, this class is required to pass to get into 2nd year," Madame Hooch said.

"Ok Madame Hooch," Susan said very upset by this news.

"The rest of this lesson is useless for today, I will see you guys Thursday evening to finish the rest of this lesson, class dismissed!" Madame Hooch yelled for everyone to hear and they all slowly made their way back to the castle for dinner.

"I though that was really brave Claryssa!" Hannah said as soon as they were out of earshot of Madame Hooch.

"Yeah it was super brave," Jasmine said patting her on the back.

"Yeah I could've been a pancake if you hadn't caught me," Susan exclaimed finally letting go of her hand.

"That's all fine and dandy but I'm probably going to get expelled for not listening to the teacher," Claryssa said miserably.

"No you won't not if I have anything to say about it," Susan said passionately pounding her fist in her other hand.

"We'll all stick up for you," Jasmine said laughing at Susan.

"We'll tell them how brave you were and how Madame Hooch just sat there angrily about you taking off like that," Hannah said.

"Thanks guys but I'm not sure if that'll help," Claryssa replied quietly and they made their way to the castle again quietly.

When they sat down in the Great Hall they were some of the first ones there, Dumbledore of course was there along with Minerva and Professor Sprout. Madame Hooch stormed in still furious and said, "We need to talk about Claryssa Potter immediately!" and all four of them made their way to a room to the side of the teacher's table and Claryssa just sat there miserably.

"What was that about?" Cedric asked sitting down next to Claryssa.

"Claryssa disobeyed Madame Hooch in flying lessons to save me because my broom took off and started rising me higher," Susan answered for Claryssa.

"Are you alright?" Cedric asked concerned.

"I'm fine now but I was so scared, Claryssa saved me though and I'm not letting them expel Claryssa just for disobeying a teacher, I could've died and according to Hannah she just sat there pissed off that we disobeyed her," Susan replied.

"I'm glad you're there for her then, are you ok Claryssa?" Cedric asked rubbing her back.

Claryssa leaned into his side for the comfort and shook her head, "No I find out I'm part of some amazing world where I actually belong and now it's getting ripped out from under me because I wanted to save my friend," Claryssa said miserably and a tear dripped down her cheek.

"Claryssa don't cry we won't let them expel you I promise," Hannah said while Jasmine and Susan nodded their head in agreement.

"Claryssa, you behaved very admirably and they won't expel you for saving someone's life," Cedric said and wiped the tear off with his thumb before resuming rubbing her back.

"Claryssa you were amazing!" Ron yelled as he ran up to them.

"How do you know?" Claryssa asked since he wasn't actually there.

"I was in Herbology and the whole class and the professor stopped and watched you take off after your friend and save her, that dive was spectacular! You'd make a kick ass seeker," Ron said excitedly and Claryssa couldn't help but laugh at Ron's exuberance.

"Well thanks Ron but I might be getting expelled because of it," Claryssa said resorting back to her glumness.

"They can't expel you for that, it was stupid but brave and you saved someone's life while the professor sat there and did nothing, you deserve a reward for that not punishment," Hermione Granger said as she walked up.

"Thanks Hermione," Claryssa smiled weakly knowing the girl probably knew the rules by now since she also was a complete bookworm.

"With a move like that, I'm surprised you weren't sorted into Gryffindor," Ron said smiling.

"Yeah I heard their reckless and jump right into things and the Sorting hat did suggest to put me there, well it said I'd be good in all four houses but it chose Hufflepuff," Claryssa replied returning the smile.

"Hey not all Gryffindors are reckless," Hermione cut in looking slightly offended.

"I'm sure there'll be a time where you will be," Susan said with a laugh.

"I highly doubt that," Hermione said but she was smiling so she couldn't have been that offended.

Claryssa looked towards the room and noticed the professors coming out and sitting at their spots at the table, none were looking at her and it made her nervous.

Ron and Hermione walked over to their table to eat as the food appeared on the plates and Claryssa grabbed a piece of buttered French bread and piled some spaghetti onto her plate and ate slowly since her stomach was twisting and turning because of the waiting for her verdict. She finished her plate of spaghetti and a couple pieces of bread when Madame Hooch walked up, "You are requested in the headmasters office after you finish eating, that includes you Miss Bones" she said and handed Claryssa a folded piece of parchment. Claryssa opened it and in Madame Hooch's spiky handwriting it said, "_the password is cockroach clusters." _

The dessert appeared and Claryssa helped herself to a piece of spice cake and ate it slowly again before gulping the rest of her pumpkin juice and standing up.

"I gotta go guys," she said nervously and began slowly walking towards the Entrance Hall.

"Want us to go with you?" Jasmine asked hopefully.

"No I already have Susan coming with me it'll be fine," Claryssa said and Susan caught up to her and they began walking slowly to the office on the third floor.

When they got to the gargoyles protecting the office Susan looked at her weirdly, "How'd you know where his office was?"

"I lived here for a month before school started," Claryssa said quietly.

"Oh right I forgot," Susan laughed but they were both tense.

"Cockroach clusters," Claryssa said and Susan gave a disgusted face. The gargoyles came to life and jumped to the side to let them pass only to jump back to their places after they passed. They stepped onto the spiraling stairs and were span up to the top.

"That was cool," Susan said and they both laughed a little before knocking on the door.

"Enter" came the soft voice of Albus Dumbledore and they opened the doors to find all four professors that had gone to talk. They walked up slowly and sat in the chairs across from Dumbledore's desk and waited quietly.

"You do realize you put yourself in a position to be expelled do you not Claryssa?" the Headmaster began quietly.

"Yes headmaster," Claryssa nodded and stared at her feet.

"You also realize that disobeying a direct order from a teacher gives her the right to give you detention should you be able to continue going to Hogwarts?" he asked.

"Yes sir," she nodded again willing the tears not to come.

"Do you also realize what you did was brave but was also stupid since you had no idea whether you'd be able to save her or not?" he asked.

"Yes headmaster I do but Madame Hooch wasn't doing anything and I wanted to save my friend," Claryssa said braver than she felt.

"I would've done something had you not taken off like an idiot!" Madame Hooch spat.

"Rolanda whether you would've or not is not the point, it's that you still didn't after she took off but only sat there being angry at her defying your authority according to Pomona," Dumbledore said calmly.

"I am to have the authority in my own class but I would've made sure the girl was okay had Claryssa not caught her, I have excellent reflexes headmaster you know that," she said flabbergasted that the headmaster wasn't on her side.

"Yes I do but I would've expected you to react quicker than you did but that is not the matter at hand, we will discuss it later," he said putting no more room for argument.

"Yes headmaster," Madame Hooch said and sat quietly while they waited for the headmaster to finish.

"Miss Bones are you alright?" Dumbledore asked kindly to Susan who was sitting there quietly listening.

"Yes sir I'm fine, I could've died if Claryssa hadn't saved me," Susan said.

"You are right and I'm sorry Madame Hooch didn't try helping, she is not used to people defying her authority, not that it excuses her behavior. I'm also sorry I didn't ask you before we began," he said kindly.

"It's alright sir, I'm mostly here to support Claryssa anyways," she said with a smile and he nodded his head.

"I have spoken to Minerva and Pomona and they have agreed you are not to be expelled Claryssa, however you have detention with Rolanda for a week, starting tonight at 7:00 PM," he said.

"Oh thank you so much headmaster, I don't know what I would've done if I'd gotten expelled," Claryssa said happily.

"Yes well also according to your head of house, you were spectacular and she has decided to make you a back up seeker for the Quidditch team since Mr. Diggory is already Seeker," he said making Claryssa's jaw drop.

"That's wonderful," she said happily.

"Yes that or we may have to make you a special offer," he said causing Claryssa to look at him questioning.

"And what is that sir?" Claryssa asked.

"Seeing as Minerva is your guardian and they are in the market for a Seeker, you can play as their Seeker as long as you promise to put forth extra effort in your lessons and do not allow your grades to slip even during the excessive Quidditch practices Oliver Wood puts his team through. You deserve some kind of award for being so brave and saving Miss Bones here," Dumbledore said smiling with that special twinkle in his eyes.

"Are you serious?" Claryssa asked excitedly.

"Yes I am quite serious, Miss Potter," he replied.

"I'd love to play for Gryffindor, I wanted to be in either Hufflepuff or Gryffindor anyway, at least now it'll be as if I'm in both," Claryssa said happily.

"Yes well I'm sure you will make us all proud," he said smiling.

"Did you all agree to this headmaster?" Claryssa asked knowing Madame Hooch probably wasn't thrilled about it.

"Yes the four of us had a talk about it and agreed it is an acceptable reward," he replied.

"Even you Madame Hooch?" Claryssa asked staring at the flying instructor.

"Though I was angry about you ignoring my order, it was I who suggested it," Madame Hooch said with a rare smile.

"For real? But you were so angry," Claryssa was shocked at this revelation.

"Yes I was but you did extremely well flying for your first time and I'll admit I was shocked that something happened, the brooms have never done that before," she replied.

"Well thank you for this wonderful opportunity," Claryssa said and turned towards her guardian.

"Claryssa I want you to meet me in our quarters after your classes tomorrow, I wish to speak to you," Minerva said.

"Yes ma'am," Claryssa said and turned back to the headmaster.

"I think you should keep this to yourself until the first game so Gryffindor has a bit of an edge," Dumbledore said, his eyes still twinkling.

"Yes sir," Claryssa smiled, "Is that it sir?"

"Yes now Claryssa go with Madame Hooch for your detention and Miss Bones please proceed back to your dormitory. If people ask Claryssa is in detention and is not being expelled and that is all you will tell them, do I make myself clear?" Professor Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Yes headmaster," Susan said smiling back and then turned and left the room.

"Come Claryssa you are going to help me get the pitch ready for Quidditch tonight," Madame Hooch said and they walked out to the Quidditch pitch.

When Claryssa got back into the dormitory Cedric and her roommates were all waiting for her by the fire.

"So what happened? Susan just said you were in detention and weren't being expelled," Cedric asked and Claryssa flashed her a smile.

"They said I was stupid and should've just let Madame Hooch handle it but they though it was also very brave to save Susan like that. They gave me detention every night this week at 7:00 PM to stress that I'm being punished for disobeying the teacher but I'm not expelled because I saved her life," Claryssa said honestly.

"Well at least you aren't expelled," Jasmine said with a smile.

"Yeah we were so worried," Hannah said also smiling.

"Well thanks guys but it's going to be ok," Claryssa said with a big grin.

"Alright well I'm tired so I'm gonna head up to bed, good night Cedric," Claryssa said before walking into her room flanked by her roommates.

"Good night guys," Claryssa said after changing into her pajamas.

"Good night," the girls chorused and then they all fell asleep.

A/N: Ok so originally I was going to put the rest of the school week in this chapter but I wanted Claryssa to be on the Quidditch team so I figured that for that to happen something had to have happened at the first flying lesson which is how I devised this plan lol. Also I had no idea what Madame Hooch's name was so I looked it up in the Harry Potter Wiki, I personally think she looks like an Erica to me but that's just me haha. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter and Please Review! I wanna know what you think. ^-^


	13. Ch 13: The Rest of the School Week

_A/N: Last chapter was already 13 pages long so I decided to put the rest of the week in this chapter haha. Sorry if you think I'm making too many chapters but when the inspiration hits for something I write it down lol. Sorry I haven't updated it in awhile but I've been distracted lately. Been playing my Pokemon games including the new Pokemon Black game since I got it a couple days after it came out and I found this awesome website where you can watch all the Pokemon episodes and movies which is cool, yes I am that much of a geek haha. __J I've also been obsessed with reading 2nd__ gen stories lately with the ScorpiusxRose pairing and I am convinced those two are meant to be together lol. J_

_Chapter 13: The Rest of the School Week._

_Claryssa woke up before the rest of the girls and found herself smiling, not believing her luck, she knew it'd be hard to hide that she was the new Gryffindor Seeker from her friends but she figured it'd be worth it so she didn't get the professors in trouble for favoring her. She went to the bathroom to shower and enjoyed the hot shower before getting out and getting ready for her third day of school._

_She instantly dried her hair and put her hair up in pigtails before going into the common room to wait on her roommates who were just barely waking up. "Hey Cedric, what're you doing down here so early?" she asked._

"_Oh uh, I just woke up early and decided to wait down here for you girls," he said._

"_Not that I mind you hanging out with us but don't you have any other friends?" Claryssa asked with a laugh._

"_Yeah I do but they're not as cute as you," he replied smiling._

"_Aw. You're so sweet but I don't want you only spending time with us and neglecting your other friends, alright?" she asked seriously but still smiling widely._

"_Ok I will split my time evenly from now on," he said slightly mockingly._

"_Good so how was your night Cedric?" Claryssa asked._

"_Well I spent the time worrying with the girls until you got back and after you guys went to bed I hung out with some of my roommates for about an hour before going to bed, it was an ok night after you got back in here," he replied._

"_Well I'm glad you spent sometime with others, I feel like I've been monopolizing your time and I feel kind of bad," Claryssa told him._

"_Don't worry about it, I enjoy spending time with you," he smiled brightly, it took Claryssa's breath away._

"_Well isn't that the sweetest thing I've heard in awhile," Susan said out loud as she, Jasmine, and Hannah made their way into the common room giggling._

"_Good morning Susan, Jasmine, and Hannah," Cedric said with a chuckle._

"_Good morning!" They almost sang together._

"_Let's get to breakfast shall we?" Jasmine asked while linking arms with Claryssa and Susan. Susan linked arms with Hannah and Claryssa linked arms with Cedric so the five of them made their way to the Great hall in a chain laughing, gathering strange looks from everybody._

"_Good morning Ron, good morning Hermione," Claryssa called as they sighted the red head and his bushy haired companion._

"_Good morning," they said with a laugh at the sight in front of them._

"_Wanna link on?" Hannah asked them._

"_Sure," Hermione said and Ron got linked in between Hannah and Hermione and his ears turned bright red as they walked in through the double doors._

"_So where are we sitting today?" Susan asked._

"_Well how about Ron and Hermione join us at the Hufflepuff table and we'll join them at the Gryffindor table for lunch," Claryssa stated._

"_Sounds good," Hermione giggled and the chain of people made their way to Hufflepuff table catching the eye of every person there._

_Claryssa glanced up at Minerva and saw hers and Dumbledore's eyes twinkling with amusement so she smiled and began eating her cinnamon roll and joking with her friends._

"_If our group of friends grows too much we are going to have a hard time all sitting at a table together," Ron said loud enough for everyone to hear._

"_Yeah well we might have to sit in groups then, part of the group sits at your table while the other sit at this one and keep switching them," Jasmine laughed._

"_That would be funny, I bet the teachers would be reeling trying to keep everyone separate and in their proper houses in their minds," Ron said with a smile._

"_As long as they don't set a rule saying we are only allowed to sit at our house tables that shouldn't be too bad," Hermione stated with a smile._

"_We'd do it anyways Granger," came the voices of Fred and George Weasley. "What's up Ced?" they said as they sat down next to Cedric._

"_Nothing much just enjoying the company of the first years guys," Cedric said with a smile._

"_We're Fred-_

"_and George-_

"_Weasley, Ron's-_

"_older twin brothers"_

_The twins took turns speaking making everyone but Hermione laugh out loud._

"_I've heard you two are rule breakers and jokesters but I'm not, if there was a rule where we could only sit at our house tables then I'd follow it, I don't feel like getting expelled," Hermione said with a humph._

"_You need to lighten up Granger, your too un-Gryffindorish sometimes," Fred said_

"_Will you stop calling me Granger please, I have a name," she said irritably._

"_Our apologies Hermione," the twins said simultaneously making her roll her eyes._

"_Do you guys always talk like that?" Hannah asked._

"_Yeah they do, it's rather annoying sometimes," Ron replied, "They take mum through hoops sometimes with it."_

"_Sounds like your guys' house is a lot of fun," Susan giggled eying the twins appreciatively. _

"_It is unless Percy's around," George replied with a wink, making Susan blush._

"_Who's Percy?" Jasmine asked._

"_He's our stupid-_

"_Prat of a brother-_

"_Thinks he's better than us-_

"_Because he's the smart prefect-_

"_And we are just jokesters-_

"_Oh and ickle Ronnikins here" The twins finished and Ron had a deep blush across his face._

"_You guys are so mean, don't embarrass Ron like that," Hannah said though she had a small smile on her face._

"_So you're friends with Cedric?" Claryssa asked loudly._

"_Yeah we go way back, Cedric used to live near us but his family moved about three years ago to Little Whinging," Fred replied._

"_We still see each other at school and are still friends even if Cedric is a year older," George finished._

"_Yeah I know where he lives now, he lives a street away from my aunt's house," Claryssa said smiling._

"_Is that so?" they asked intrigued._

"_Um yeah," Claryssa laughed nervously at their identical evil grins._

"_Does your uncle still live there?" they asked._

"_No he's in custody right now until his trial, he might even be in Azkaban right now," she replied quietly wishing for the subject to change._

"_Shouldn't you two be getting to Divination? It's a long trek to the Divination tower," Cedric said sensing Claryssa's discomfort._

"_Drats he's right, come along brother" Fred said._

"_To the old bat's tower we go," George said and they left quickly._

"_Thanks Ced," Claryssa smiled at him._

"_No problem but you girls should be getting to Herbology right now anyways and Ron and Hermione you should be heading to your first class," Cedric said._

"_Come on Ron, he's right we don't want to be late for Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall would have our heads," Hermione said and they all dispersed to their classes._

_The day passed by almost exactly as Monday did, they had the same classes with the same people and Claryssa and her roommates were still learning the basics of their lessons. The only difference was today was Wednesday and all of the first years had Astrology at midnight in the Astrology tower. Astrology was the only class that all the first years took together, there was one telescope for every two people so they were paired up with someone from a different house. Susan was with a Gryffindor boy named Seamus Finnigan and they seemed to be hitting it off well. Hannah was with another Gryffindor boy named Dean Thomas and they were talking quietly amongst themselves. Claryssa was with Hermione and Jasmine was with Ron._

_Each pair was assigned a telescope and they were set to mark the position of the moon every half an hour. Claryssa really had no idea how this was magic nor could she understand why it was necessary. The class seemed to drag on and Professor Sinistra got snippy at anyone caught talking about anything other than her beloved astrology. When the class was over they all quickly made it to their houses to get a few hours of treasured sleep._

_Thursday and Friday passed by without incident and very quickly in Claryssa's opinion. She was getting into the groove of being at a new school and succeeding more and more at her lessons even if she had issues sometimes like everybody else. Friday after dinner Claryssa decided to take a break from her Hufflepuff friends and spend some quality time with her Gryffindor friends._

"_Hey Ron, Hermione, wanna take a walk or something?" Claryssa asked as she caught up to them._

"_Well I have some homework to do, so maybe another time," was Hermione's response._

"_You're always doing homework Hermione, why don't you take a break?" Ron asked exasperatedly._

"_Oh alright Ronald but only because you asked so nicely," Hermione said with a giggle that Claryssa joined in on._

_So what did you wanna do Claryssa?" Hermione asked curiously._

"_I don't know but I feel like I've been neglecting my Gryffindor buddies," Claryssa said as she put an arm on each of their shoulders. "We haven't spent much time together since we got here and I figured we could hang out for a few hours before bed."_

"_I'm game for it," Ron said snaking his arm around her waist as Hermione did the same._

"_Aren't you game for anything that'll make you feel less like a pathetic loser Weasley?" Draco's voice drawled from behind them and they all whipped around._

"_Watch your tongue Malfoy," Ron spat out his name as if it were scum. Malfoy's face flushed angrily._

"_How dare you disrespect your superior," Malfoy fumed._

"_Superior? How could you possibly be his superior Malfoy, your arrogant, rude, and treat everyone like dirt." Claryssa yelled, sticking up for her friend._

"_I have enough money to be able to treat others like the scum that they are Potter, I am his superior because I spend more in a month then the Weasleys make in a year," Malfoy replied._

"_That's just pathetic, why don't you do something useful with your money like donate to a charity or someone less fortunate than you or something rather than acting like your money makes you better than everybody Malfoy," Claryssa seethed._

"_Because it does make me better than everyone, I know you were raised by muggles_ but even you should know that money rules the world," Malfoy sneered emphasizing the word muggles with distaste.

"Only because pompous asses like yourself make it that way," Claryssa replied glaring.

"How dare you! Since someone here could rat us out for dueling in the corridors, meet me tonight at midnight in the Trophy room for a duel Potter, I'm bringing Crabbe so make sure you pick a good second!" Malfoy said and then stormed off.

"What's a second?" Claryssa asked as soon as he was out of earshot.

"A second is someone who steps in for you in a duel in case you are injured or killed," Ron said matter of factly.

"Well that's lovely but you aren't going are you Claryssa?" Hermione said. "You could be expelled if you get caught out of bed at that time."

"Of course she's going, you can't just not show up to a duel, your opponent will think you're a chicken if you don't and besides, I'm gonna be your second Claryssa," Ron said proudly.

"Thanks Ron but I don't know how to duel and I don't know that many spells yet," Claryssa said worriedly.

"I don't know that many either but we know enough together to get rid of Malfoy and Crabbe easily!" Ron said excitedly.

"Oh come one guys, you can't possibly think that dueling our first week here is very smart, besides you guys could get hurt," Hermione pleaded.

"We're going Hermione and you can't stop us," Ron said.

"I'm sorry Hermione but somebody has to knock Malfoy off his high horse," Claryssa said seriously.

Hermione looked like she had more to say on the subject but she let it drop, "So what was it you wanted to do again?" Hermione asked.

"Go for a walk?" Claryssa asked.

"Alright how about around the Black Lake?" Ron spoke up.

"Alright let's go," Hermione said as they turned around and headed the opposite direction.

"So how are you doing in classes Claryssa?" Hermione asked.

"Are we really going to talk about school on the weekend?" Ron whined.

"I'm doing rather well thank you and let's just humor Ron and talk about something else shall we?" Claryssa replied.

"Oh alright Claryssa," Hermione said, "What do you want to talk about Ronald?"

"How about Quidditch?" he exclaimed excitedly and then it was Hermione's turn to groan as Claryssa laughed at his enthusiasm. Claryssa loved how diverse all of her friends were with their interests but she knew she had at least something in common with all of them and that thought made her smile as Ron began talking about his favorite team the Chudley Cannons.

At a quarter to midnight Claryssa was outside the Gryffindor common room waiting for Ron, thinking to earlier when she had returned to her common room. *Flashback begin* _"Cedric do you know any good spells to use in a duel?" she asked as soon as she spotted him doing homework by the fire._

"_What kind of spell are you looking for?" he asked arching his eyebrow questioningly._

"_Anything that'll knock Malfoy on his ass and make him think twice before insulting me or any of my friends again, or at least for awhile," she said with a small smile._

"_Do I wanna know?" he asked laughing at her._

"_He made fun of Ron and we intend to pay him back tonight at midnight when we meet up for a Wizard's duel in the Trophy room," she explained._

"_You shouldn't be up that late Claryssa, you guys can get in a lot of trouble if you get caught," he warned._

"_I realize that but I'm not going to take him dissing my friends laying down, that isn't how I work since I haven't had any before you, I feel very protective of them all," Claryssa flared angrily._

"_Alright, alright but I just want to make sure you know the consequences of your actions before you do them, I support you wanting to stick up for your friends though so I'll wish you good luck," he said staring intently at her._

"_Thanks, so about those spells?" she said eagerly._

"_Try Flipendo, it's the knock back jinx and might literally knock him on his ass like you said but I really don't feel comfortable teaching you super advanced spells for a duel," he said._

"_Ok no problem, I'll try that out, thanks Ced," she said smiling and left him to his work again. _*Flashback end*

"Haven't been waiting for long have you?" Ron asked when he came out.

"Nope only been here for a couple of minutes," Claryssa said with a smile.

"Oh alright ready to go?" Ron asked.

"Yep, you?" Claryssa asked back.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Ron said and they started down the corridor. 

"Hey wait up for me," Hermione whisper yelled as she came out of the portrait hole quickly.

"I thought you didn't approve of us going?" Ron slightly teased.

"I don't but I don't wish for you two to get hurt either, I'm coming to help if need be," Hermione replied matter of factly.

"As am I," Cedric said as he stepped out of the shadows quickly.

"Where'd you come from Ced?" Claryssa asked a little shocked at his sudden appearance.

"I followed you from a distance, I don't like the idea of you getting hurt or expelled, your first week of school Claryssa," he told her seriously.

"Aw Cedric, that's so sweet of you," Claryssa smiled and Cedric just nodded in response as the four of them made their way towards the Trophy room quietly.

Their trip to the Trophy room was pretty quiet, they didn't run into anyone, human or ghost, and being out in the corridors at night kind of creeped Claryssa out.

When they reached the Trophy room it was midnight and the Trophy room was quite empty, "Do you think he chickened out?" Ron asked trying to keep the hopefulness out of his voice but failing miserably.

"I don't know, maybe he's late," Claryssa shrugged.

"Or it's a trap and he's trying to get us all in trouble," Hermione said being the most logical in the group other than Cedric who agreed with her immediately.

"Do you really think he's that slimy of a git?" Ron asked.

"I'm not sure-" Claryssa began before they heard a voice that none of them wanted to hear.

"Anyone here my sweet?" said the voice of the caretaker Mr. Filch to his cat Mrs. Norris. He was across the large room and they could barely make out his shadow in the dark.

"I changed my mind he definitely is," Claryssa said quietly as they walked as quickly away from the room as possible.

When they got out of the room they ran away not paying attention to where they were going and ended up at a locked door with the sound of Filch's footprints seemingly not to far away.

"That's it we're done for," Ron said with fear in his voice as the door wouldn't open despite their efforts.

"No we aren't, move over," Hermione demanded pushing him out of the way, "Alohomora." the door clicked open and the four of them rushed inside and closed the door quickly behind them.

They were in what looked like a deserted corridor based off of the spider webs in the corner nearby and other places. "Does anyone feel like we shouldn't be here?" Claryssa asked a bit scared.

"That's because we shouldn't be here, this is the third floor corridor, it's forbidden," Cedric replied calmly. They heard a meow and foot steps coming closer to the door they were by and ran down the hallway to avoid getting into trouble. When they reached the end of the hallway there was a single locked door and Cedric quickly used the "Alohomora" spell to let them all in so they could slam the door behind them.

Claryssa was the only one to pay attention to the room as the other three held the door shut just in case Filch followed them, when they were sure that Filch was gone they turned around slowly, "To think this door was locked," Ron said as he stared around the large room.

"And for good reason," Claryssa all but squeaked as she stared in horror at the monster sleeping on the ground. The monster woke up at the sound of her voice and stared blearily at the four students as they stood terrified looking at it. It began standing up and they were soon staring up at a giant three headed dog before the four of them screamed at the top of their lungs and booked it from the room. They had to hold the door shut as the middle head tried to nip them in the butt as they ran away and then with an added push Cedric quickly locked the door and they ran back to the staircases to head back to their common rooms.

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" Ron all but yelled as they were catching their breath on the fourth floor corridor.

" I don't know but I think they're insane, none of the professors told me about that," Claryssa said clearly upset with her guardians.

"You don't use your eyes do you?" Hermione asked, it was standing on a trapdoor which means it wasn't there by accident, it's guarding something."

"I wasn't looking at it's feet, I was a bit preoccupied with it's heads. Well maybe you didn't notice there were three!" Ron actually yelled this time.

"Shh you don't want to get caught out of bed at this hour, you'll lose us all points and get us detentions," Cedric warned.

"Sorry," Ron whispered that time.

"What do you suppose it's guarding?" Claryssa asked.

"I don't know but if you all don't mind I'm going to bed before any of you come up with another idea to get us killed or worse, expelled!" Hermione huffed and started making her way back towards the Gryffindor common room.

"She needs to sort out her priorities," Ron muttered before grudgingly following her leaving Claryssa and Cedric to head towards their common room quietly.

"Good night Cedric, "Claryssa said once they made it safely back into their common room.

"Good night Claryssa, " Cedric said with a squeeze of her shoulder reassuringly and they went their separate ways to their own dorms.

Claryssa woke up early after a restless night dreaming about the three headed dog and why none of the professors had told her about it. She now knew what was down the third floor corridor and the question of what it was guarding plagued her mind as she got ready for the day as quietly as possible as not to wake her roommates. When she got to the common room she sat down in one of the chairs next to a window with a book to take up some time before Cedric or her roommates came down.

After sitting there reading the same line for 15 minutes and not taking in any of it she looked out the window and saw how nice of a day it was. So she decided to stick the book in her Lily bag and take a walk on the grounds instead. As she was about to leave Cedric came out of his dorm looking a bit restless himself, "I'm guessing you didn't sleep well?" he asked as he saw her.

"Not very well at all and I can't really concentrate on reading so I was going to take a walk around the grounds, care to join me?" she replied.

"Sure thing, it beats sitting around here all day," he said with a smile as they exited the common room.

They spent the morning walking around the grounds talking about what could be hidden under the trapdoor but nothing seemed very realistic even to them. They had come to an agreement that the professors hadn't told her to protect her from going and trying to explore what was under the trapdoor. They also spent a nice chunk of their time talking about Shiloh by Phylliss Reynolds Naylor since both of them had just finished reading it recently. When lunch time came around they all but ran to the Great Hall to eat since they had skipped breakfast and were both very hungry.

"Well look what the cat dragged in," Susan said with a smirk as they sat down at the table and started piling their plates with Chicken Caesar Salad and a few breadsticks each and dug in.

"We took a long walk around the grounds, sorry," Claryssa laughed.

"That's alright, we were studying a bit of Charms," Hannah said since Jasmine and Susan had their mouths full.

"I'll probably do my studying tomorrow but we're going back on another walk after this," Claryssa told her.

"What are you gonna do now?" Jasmine asked.

"I'm going to teach Claryssa how to play Quidditch since I think she'd be good at it based on how well you guys said she flew at your flying lesson," Cedric said.

"Oh that should be fun," Claryssa said smiling thinking how it would come in handy when she became the Gryffindor Seeker in about a month or so.

"Sounds like you two will have a busy day ahead of you," Hannah said smiling.

"Yep which means we'll be busy doing more studying or something," Jasmine said rather bored.

"Sorry guys, I'm sure you'll find something to do. You could always try challenging Ron to a Wizard's Chess match since he seems to like it quite a bit," Claryssa said recalling Ron telling her about that.

"I might just do that if I get bored," Jasmine said since she was the most logical of the four other than Claryssa.

"You have fun with that, Chess bores me," Susan said.

"I'm not very good at it is my problem with Chess," Hannah piped up.

"I've never had the chance to try it," Claryssa said as she finished chewing her last bite of salad.

"It's all about strategy honestly," Cedric informed her as he too finished eating his salad.

"I have no doubt about that, you ready to go?" Claryssa asked excitedly.

"Just gotta finish my juice first," Cedric replied before both him and Claryssa chugged the rest of their pumpkin juice and left the table.

They walked quickly down to the Quidditch pitch and Claryssa followed Cedric into the Hufflepuff locker room so he could unlock his broom from the case and he grabbed the Hogwarts practice balls and an extra broom so he could teach her all about the game and they walked back to the field.

"There are seven members on every team, three chasers, two beaters, a keeper, and a seeker. They all have their respective roles to play to make a good team," he started when they reached the middle of the field.

"Now there are four balls in Quidditch, this one's called the Quaffle," he said as he pulled out the soccer ball sized red ball and threw it to her.

"Ok What's it for?" Claryssa asked as she threw it back to him.

"The three chasers try to get the ball and throw it through one of the other team's three hoops, the keeper defends the hoops for their team" he said as he pointed to the goalposts on both sides of the field.

"Ok and what about those things?" she asked pointing at the two brown balls struggling to break free of the chains holding them in.

"Those are Bludgers, nasty little buggers, they fly around and try to knock players off of their brooms. The two beaters try to stop them from hitting their team members and hit them towards the other team's players," he said as he handed her a short bat.

"That sounds dangerous," she said as she looked questioningly at the bat in her hand.

"It is but the beaters are generally pretty good at keeping them from hitting their teammates because that is their whole point in the game, I'm gonna let one out so try to hit it," he replied and then unclipped the chains keeping a Bludger in.

The Bludger flew up high and came whizzing quickly back down to them, Claryssa hit it as hard as she could and sent it zooming. "Not bad Claryssa, you'd make a fair beater," Cedric said as he watched it zoom up into the sky.

"Thanks," Claryssa smiled until the Bludger headed back towards them.

"Oh boy," Cedric said right before he caught it as it hit his stomach, he struggled to get it back into the box and then clipped it safely back in place.

"What about the fourth ball?" Claryssa asked since she didn't see it.

"The fourth ball is what I have to look for as the seeker, it's called the Golden Snitch," he said as he opened a little Hogwarts Crest sized compartment and pulled out a little gold ball.

"What do you do with it?" Claryssa asked as he placed it in her hand.

"The seeker spends the entire game looking for this ball, it's wicked fast and damn near impossible to see. The seeker than tries to catch this ball before the other team's seeker. The seeker who catches it earns his or her team 150 points and ends the game," Cedric explained.

"I like this ball, it's pretty, and according to you it wins the game if caught," Claryssa said with a smile as she let it go and watched it zoom off.

"The game could be won by a team without catching the snitch if they have more than 150 points when the Snitch is caught actually but that generally only happens in professional Quidditch if it happens at all," Cedric replied. "Oh and yes it's pretty but if you were in an actual game as a seeker you could see just how hard it is to find sometimes since it's so small."

"I bet I could be a good Seeker, flying apparently comes easy to me and I'm not having a problem seeing the Snitch right now," Claryssa said sounding more confident than she felt.

"I'll test that theory, here take my broom and go chase it," Cedric said with a smile.

"Ok no problem," Claryssa said as she grabbed the broom and then kicked off again she felt a rush as she flew upwards in the sky. She stopped when she was parallel with the shortest goalposts and looked around again for the Snitch. It took her about ten minutes but she found it and shot towards it as quickly as she could, it jumped up so did she and when it dove towards the ground she followed it quickly and she eased through the air following it's every move until she was right on it's tail. She leaned forward and felt a rush of satisfaction when she clenched it in her fist and then flew back to where Cedric was standing. He looked amazed as she pushed her windswept hair out of her face and handed him back his broom and the Snitch. "So how did I fare Ced?" she asked with a laugh at the look on his face.

"You're an amazing flyer and seeker, you could give me a run for my money and I've been a seeker since my second year," he said still astounded.

"Well thank you, thank you very much," Claryssa laughed again.

"You look very at ease in the air, like you were meant to be a flyer," he said thoughtfully.

"I feel a rush every time I fly upwards and while I zoom through the air, it's an amazing feeling. It makes me feel alive!" Claryssa exclaimed.

"I know how you feel," he said. "Let's see how you fare playing the other positions in the game."

"Alright sounds fun," Claryssa replied and they spent the rest of the afternoon playing the different positions of the game. Neither of them fared well playing keeper, Claryssa would be an alright beater, Cedric would be an outstanding beater if he weren't a seeker already, Cedric would be an alright Chaser but Claryssa would be an awesome one, he even suggested she try out for chaser next year when a 7th year girl on the team would be gone but she kept quiet about the fact that she was already Gryffindor's seeker.

When the sun was about to set Cedric had them meet in the middle of the field and dismount, "That was really good and a lot of fun but I wanna show you something."

"That was really fun but what do you wanna show me?" Claryssa asked.

"You'll see, come here," he beckoned her and she dropped her borrowed broom and walked over to him. "Get on my broom with me alright?" he asked.

"Um ok," Claryssa laughed nervously and got on the front of his broom as he sat behind her and had her kick them off while he held onto her waist. Claryssa was extremely aware of Cedric's hands on her waist and she had a weird, tight feeling in her chest that she couldn't place but it made her nervous.

He guided them over to the Great Lake and they floated there as the sun began to set, "Oh Cedric it's beautiful," Claryssa exclaimed as she watched her first sunset at Hogwarts over the lake.

"Yes it is but the beauty of it pales in comparison to you," he said quietly with a blush.

"Aw!" was all Claryssa could say as a blush spread across her cheeks and they turned back to the sunset quietly. Claryssa felt that tight feeling in her chest again when those words came out of Cedric's mouth, was she starting to like Cedric more than a friend? Is that why she felt nervous and completely aware of him when he was near? Even if she did, did he like her more than a friend as well? Or was he just completely and totally sweet like that to all of his female friends? She couldn't be certain because she'd only seen him around her and her friends. She decided she'd watch him around his other friends for awhile to be certain before she brought anything up, that way she could also take time to decide what he was to her.

They watched the sunset quietly and comfortably with his hands still around her waist, she leaned back against him a little and he slowly wrapped his arms completely around her. She leaned her head back against his chest and she breathed in his scent, that's when it hit her, the last smell of the Amortentia at the apothecary. It was Cedric's scent, that was the last thing that drew her in, she couldn't believe she hadn't remembered it sooner. That gave her more to think about, maybe she really did like him as more than a friend.

"The sun is pretty much set, we should grab the stuff and go down to dinner," Cedric said ending her musings. Claryssa nodded in agreement as the sun completely set and they did exactly that.

A/N: Ok so I know this probably wasn't the greatest chapter but I wanted to at least write the first week completely so I could write this scene, I wanted a cute sunset scene on a broom between those two and I did that so let me know how you liked it, please leave me a review for a late birthday present! I turned 21 on May 10th lol.


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